Most of us know that it’s a good idea to save up for those big ticket items that we want to buy. A plasma TV, A car, a home, but what am I forgetting? While you might have each of these items for years, there is one item that we often leave off the list. That item that you forgot is your retirement. It is the most expensive thing you will ever need to buy and must last for decades. With the advancements in medicine, it is very possible that you may spend more years in retirement than you did working.
Most people don’t see retirement as a “purchase,” but the truth is every time you put money into your 401K at work, put money in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) or toward your Keogh Plan(self-employed) you are putting money away today for the cost of your retirement tomorrow. On top of that, the cost of the living in retirement years is going up. Without even factoring in inflation, many are spending 20, 30 or more years in retirement. The days of sitting back in a rocking chair are gone and have been replaced with traveling and doing all those things that we didn’t have time for while punching the clock.
More retirees will have to shoulder more of the retirement burden, since Social Security is may be run out of funds to pay benefits. Plus, fewer companies are providing traditional pension plans and 401K’s are primarily funded by the employee and not the employer. Unfortunately, little more than half of all employees are even earning benefits at work. Many others are unfamiliar with the basics of sound investing.
In short, a comfortable retirement is going to need pensions, personal savings, and investments. If Social Security is still around, it will just be the icing on the cake. Since paying for the retirement you dream of is your responsibility, start buying your retirement and financial future today.
Wishing You Wealth in all its Greatest Forms,
Alex
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