1) If the employer you are working for offers a 401K plan wherein you contribute a percentage of your earnings towards retirement, consider signing up for this plan! In most instances, the employer may match a percentage of the contributions you make to your 401K account. Your contributions can be made on a pre-tax basis which will help your money grow faster in your account.
2) You may want to consider taking a second job to add more income for your retirement. This will assist you in increasing the amount of money for your retirement fund. If you're able to fit a second job into your schedule, make sure this would be feasible for you and your family without causing problems.
3) Save more of your money by cutting back on some of your expenses. You may want to reduce the number of times you eat out, go to the movies, shop, and any other areas you can cut back on to save towards your retirement.
4) Consider saving your change! That's right, save your change. You would be surprised at the amount of money you can accumulate in a small amount of time by saving your change. Your change could be set aside for your retirement fund. So, start putting your coins away for your future!
5) Reduce or eliminate your spending on your credit cards. The less you pay on your credit cards, the more money you'll have to save towards your retirement. So, if you can pay cash for that item you need to purchase, do that instead of charging it to your credit card. You'll not only save yourself interest charges, but, you'll have extra money to put away for your retirement.
6) If you have a home and are using it as a cash machine or atm by taking out your home equity via loans or a credit line, stop what you're doing! Your home is one of your largest investments and will most likely be a retirement vehicle for you. You'll either want to have your home paid off prior to retirement or be in a position to sell your home to obtain the equity to use as retirement income. If you have your home equity tapped out, then you will not be in the position during your golden years to enjoy your retirement. You'll probably be still paying a mortgage that you may not be able to afford and will not have much money in your retirement fund.
It's better late than never when it comes to starting your retirement planning. So, go ahead, start working on catching up with your retirement planning today, you'll be glad you did!
By: Nocita Carter | Posted: 04-08-2006
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