Proper retirement planning begins as soon as you understand what the word Retirement means. Studies show that the average American requires at least 75 percent of their normal income to survive during retirement: that’s 75 percent of the salary that you are earning right now. Workers in the lower income range can expect to need at least 90 percent.
Start planning for your retirement in your 20s. If you’re starting later like most of us, you have to rapidly increase that amount by 2 or 3 x times. In our 40s and 50s, count on using what we’ve learned to focus on greater income in addition to increased savings. By sitting down and planning out your retirement today, you can make sure that you have saved enough to make retirement enjoyable. Saving 10 percent of your income each month was once an acceptable number. We know today that savings plus income growth is a more secure approach to insure comfortable retirement.
Reduce the amount of money that you spend on miscellaneous items throughout the week. Write down a list of all of your expenses and determine the items that you can do without. Over the course of 30 years, these expenses can really add up and eliminating them can serve as a large source of income.
Start saving early and continue saving until you reach retirement age. Even if you must start small, begin saving today. As your income increases, your savings should also increase. Placing your money in an interest bearing account will allow your money to grow over time resulting in greater earnings.
When living on a fixed income in retirement, make sure to create a budget and stick to it. Today SUCCESS minded people in retirement are urged to use their years of accumulated wisdom, to teach, instruct and mentor others to maintain easily generated income in their later life years. This will help you to account for all your necessary bills, and it will keep you from enjoying the later half of you life. Make sure to always look to multiply all your income sources, because bills and other expenditures will always follow us, aggresively targeting income generators will make monitoring your expenses less traumatic.
By beginning to save early in life, you can assure that you have enough income to live comfortably during your golden years. Just know that in addition to saving, multiple income flows and leveraging the knowledge you’ve obtained through the years are key factors to living in retirement abundance.
Adrian Cox, Yes Contributor