The days of a stable career and guaranteed retirement are gone. To make sure you have enough money to survive on in your old age, you need to take matters into your own hands.
Here are some handy tips about how to save for the future.
1. Begin saving for retirement now. The earlier you start saving, the more money you can accumulate over your lifetime. If you take the first step now, and then make small but regular contributions to a retirement plan or IRA, you can create a nest egg of several thousand dollars in only 10 years. Then, if your investments do well, when you reach age 65 or 70, you will have far more money than what your monthly Social Security payments would normally be.
2. Invest wisely in mutual funds. Don’t buy stocks on impulse while they’re on a hot streak; ride the wave instead. Try to purchase funds that invest in stocks that have performed well over time and are not too expensive.
3. Check your retirement accounts regularly. You might not want to sell certain investments and add others at the same time; for example, you might want to leave some of your stocks in the hope that they will rise in value, or you might want to shift from long- into short term investments.
4. Stretch your money. The longer an investment doubles in value between when it’s first purchased and when it’s sold, the less you need to save each year to reach a goal such as a comfortable retirement. Investors who hold on to their investments until they are worth as much as they were originally paid for can cut their annual savings by more than half.
5. Plan ahead. If you want to retire in your 30s, you could help yourself by saving more now, reducing your Social Security benefits later, and investing in stocks. Investing in stocks could work out perfectly if the stock market performs well over a 20-year period. If it does not, you will have time to adjust and back out of investments that have failed to perform well.
In conclusion, with these simple, yet effective methods, you will be able to make the retirement that you have always dreamed of. Use your time wisely and make sure to save whatever money you can.
