If you’re afraid that you haven’t saved enough money for retirement, you’re not alone. As a matter of fact, less than 20% of all Americans will have enough to last them through retirement and nearly 40% have absolutely nothing save for retirement at all.
If you are one of those people, and scared to death about your upcoming retirement (even if it’s still 5, 10 or more years away) we have a few drastic steps below that may help. Yes, they’re drastic but, at this point, it’s definitely time to break out some drastic measures. Enjoy.
The first is simply to stop acting like an ostrich, get your head out of the sand and face your retirement reality. It’s time to find out what your expenses will likely be in retirement, how much you can expect from Social Security and put that together with what you’ve saved (if anything) to have a clearer picture of what your retirement will look like.
The estimate by most professionals is that you’ll need at least 70% of the money that you’re making now in order to keep up your current lifestyle during retirement. Of course there are many factors that influence this number including where you live, your current health status, the size of your home and so forth.
Next it’s time to downsize. This includes everything from your home to your car, your community, the state you live in, the medications you take and so forth. Living in a smaller home, in a less costly state, and driving a much smaller and more economical automobile should cut down on your monthly expenses greatly.
You might consider renting instead of owning and even getting rid of your car completely. Possibly moving in with your children into an “in law suite” might be an option as well. The point is to do everything possible to lower your monthly costs, which might even include getting rid of cable. (Insert ‘gasp’ here.)
Another drastic step, maybe the most drastic, is to binge save. What is binge saving? Simply put, saving as much of your income as humanly possible to build up a large enough nest egg to at least get you through some, if not all, of your retirement.
We’re talking about 40, and sometimes 50 or 60% of your income, which means cutting back on practically every unneeded expense in your life. No more movies, going to restaurants, or Starbucks. Keeping your old car until the wheels fall off and holding onto your shoes and clothing until they’re completely worn out. If liquidity is necessary you can always consider payday loans if needed.
Yeah, it’s drastic. But if you don’t have anything put aside for retirement yet, it might just be necessary.
These three drastic steps might just help you to survive retirement without having to live in a cardboard box. It won’t be easy, and it will be fun, but it might be the only way to put enough money aside to get you through retirement. You should probably talk to a finance expert as well and look into some low risk investing and insurance policies also.
If you are one of those people, and scared to death about your upcoming retirement (even if it’s still 5, 10 or more years away) we have a few drastic steps below that may help. Yes, they’re drastic but, at this point, it’s definitely time to break out some drastic measures. Enjoy.
The first is simply to stop acting like an ostrich, get your head out of the sand and face your retirement reality. It’s time to find out what your expenses will likely be in retirement, how much you can expect from Social Security and put that together with what you’ve saved (if anything) to have a clearer picture of what your retirement will look like.
The estimate by most professionals is that you’ll need at least 70% of the money that you’re making now in order to keep up your current lifestyle during retirement. Of course there are many factors that influence this number including where you live, your current health status, the size of your home and so forth.
Next it’s time to downsize. This includes everything from your home to your car, your community, the state you live in, the medications you take and so forth. Living in a smaller home, in a less costly state, and driving a much smaller and more economical automobile should cut down on your monthly expenses greatly.
You might consider renting instead of owning and even getting rid of your car completely. Possibly moving in with your children into an “in law suite” might be an option as well. The point is to do everything possible to lower your monthly costs, which might even include getting rid of cable. (Insert ‘gasp’ here.)
Another drastic step, maybe the most drastic, is to binge save. What is binge saving? Simply put, saving as much of your income as humanly possible to build up a large enough nest egg to at least get you through some, if not all, of your retirement.
We’re talking about 40, and sometimes 50 or 60% of your income, which means cutting back on practically every unneeded expense in your life. No more movies, going to restaurants, or Starbucks. Keeping your old car until the wheels fall off and holding onto your shoes and clothing until they’re completely worn out. If liquidity is necessary you can always consider payday loans if needed.
Yeah, it’s drastic. But if you don’t have anything put aside for retirement yet, it might just be necessary.
These three drastic steps might just help you to survive retirement without having to live in a cardboard box. It won’t be easy, and it will be fun, but it might be the only way to put enough money aside to get you through retirement. You should probably talk to a finance expert as well and look into some low risk investing and insurance policies also.