It is said that many people are not nearly as prepared for retirement as they think they are. We take for granted that we will have enough money once we get to a point where we can no longer work, or wish to stop working when we’re ready.
To make sure that you’re ready, you need to start doing some little things years ahead of time to really get the savings built up without too much sacrifice. It’s always a balance between saving enough for retirement and having enough for the quality of life we expect for the present.
In this article, I will go over several ways you can increase your retirement savings and protect your financial future.
1 – Invest small amounts
Investing can be a double edged sword. It can increase your savings considerably and let your money do all the work. With some savvy investing and loads of patience, you can see your retirement nest egg grow by leaps and bounds over the years.
If you already have as much money as you can afford tied up in investments, then you can do some little things to add to that without any pain. There are micro investments that can be done using a multitude of apps. Also called robo advising, they can do things like round up purchases and use the change to put into funds.
Many of them also have ways to get free stock shares as an incentive to use their platform.
2 – Set up automatic contributions
Out of sight, out of mind works really well when it comes to saving money. You can usually adjust to having less money and just spending less when you think you don’t have the money.
You can do this by setting up automatic contributions to your retirement accounts. These contributions can come directly out of your paycheck so it’s like you didn’t have it to begin with.
It is far more difficult to find the discipline to set money aside after you’ve gotten it, so this is a good way to beat that.
3 – Max out the 401k
Take advantage of your employer matching your contributions to your 401k and max it out when you can. It really is free money when you do this as some employers will match dollar for dollar up to a certain amount.
Don’t leave any of this money on the table and make sure you are hitting your max every year.
4 – Buy in bulk
You can save several hundred dollars per year when you buy your essential items in bulk. Then, you should take those savings and put them in your retirement funds.
For instance, stop buying canned beans and instead buy dried beans in bulk. That may sound like Depression Era shopping, but it does work. Go to the big discount stores and get a few months supply of things like toilet paper, flour, household cleaners, and pet food. Make sure to keep track of the savings and put that money aside.
