Sometimes, the greatest feeling of financial freedom comes from breathing a sigh of relief knowing you are set for the future. While it’s great to pay off debts and live frugally, putting money aside for retirement can be the smartest decision of all. Saving up for retirement may sound like something you don’t need to be thinking about yet, but truthfully, the younger you start saving, the better off you’ll be.
Read on for three ways to live comfortably now, and well into old age.
Start saving now
Never underestimate the power of compounding interest. The sooner you start setting money aside, the sooner it can start accumulating interest. As the pot grows, interest builds and what began as just a small sum becomes a substantial amount of savings. The longer you put off saving, the more you miss out. The difference between starting to contribute to a 401K or Roth IRA right out of college versus waiting a few years can mean the difference of thousands of dollars. If you weren’t able to start saving at such a young age, don’t worry, there’s still time to benefit. Start today. Save early and you’ll thank yourself come retirement.
Make it automatic
It’s easy to get caught up in life as you live it and decide you’d rather spend your income immediately rather than many years down the line at a time you can barely even imagine. But – you’ll be retiring sooner than you think. And, the more money you save, the sooner you can retire. Set up an automatic payment system that takes a small percentage of each paycheck and deposits it into a savings account that accrues interest or a 401K.
Take a side job
If you can’t spare a dollar of the paycheck that comes from your nine-to-five job, try making some money on the side. These days, with an Internet connection and a home computer, you can get a little financial boost doing virtually anything. If you only have time during off-hours to spare, you can try working as a day trader, you could start a blog, or you could launch a small business. The opportunities are endless and the small income you make on the side can become the savings you need to retire comfortably.
Many people brush off the thought of retirement savings as unnecessary or something they can always do later, but that’s not how this works. If you choose to retire, expenses like health care and housing can require regular payments for the next twenty or thirty years. To ensure that you enjoy your retirement and can effectively support yourself (and your partner or family) start thinking about your options today.
For the retirement savings, as much as timing may be considered, time accumulated by an investment is what makes for the big difference. You should have started saving for retirement yesterday if not now to take advantage of time and to guarantee comfortable life after retirement.
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