Financial planners will give varying advice on savings and how to work towards retirement. If you get started saving in your twenties and invest well, you will likely have the recommended three times your annual income saved by forty. When people are young, they are often worried about college and student debt, starting a young family, and beginning a career, so it is less likely that a plan to save money is executed.
If you are approaching forty and have not yet saved towards retirement, it’s not too late. Below are some tips to help you save money for retirement, emergencies, and other goals.
Investments Rather than Savings Accounts
When people hear the word savings, they generally think of taking a set percentage of their paycheck and putting it directly into a banking institution’s savings account. While this is a good idea in the respect that you are working to save money, bank savings accounts are not the way to save towards big goals.
Savings accounts are often low interest and are closer to putting your savings under your mattress or in the cookie jar. Instead, consult a professional financial planner and find ways to invest money to gain you more interest and grow your money more quickly. This could be through mutual funds, investment savings plans, investing in stocks, or buying properties or items that appreciate over the length of ownership. The essential thing to remember about investments is that you should research options and understand the risks and rewards.
Additional Streams of Income
Besides investments that increase your existing income, another way to save towards your goal of three times your annual income by age forty is through additional income streams. In today’s world, the side hustle is typical as people make ends meet or work towards savings or other life goals financially.
Like investments, additional streams of income should be well researched. Some options require little of your time and virtually no interference with your main job paying the bills. These additional streams of income could be gig work like driving for a rideshare app, delivering food, or freelancing. It could also be from becoming a consultant or advisor. There are several ideas you could try to create more streams of income.
Retirement Funds
Many companies offer a retirement fund. This is a fund that the employee will contribute to from each paycheck. In most cases, the companies that provide retirement funds will also have offers to match a certain percentage of what the employee is investing in.
While retirement funds are a great way to save money that has you seldom missing the money put into them, there are also some drawbacks to this type of savings. There are often penalties on early withdrawals of the money. Also, because most of these funds are not taxed at the time of savings, you will owe a tax percentage on the savings when you withdraw the funds.
Many retirement funds are also attached to mutual funds to increase them and are vulnerable to market fluctuations. When the economy is in a downturn or recession at retirement or the time of withdrawal, your money will not hold as much value.
Conclusion
Whether you begin saving in your twenties or closer to your forties, it is crucial to saving something. Those dependent on the government to carry them through retirement will find it a struggle, depending on how much they contributed to social security during their career. It is crucial to look for ways to save while you are still young for retirement, emergencies, and other financial goals. These savings could be through investments, multiple streams of income, retirement plans, or interest-gaining savings accounts. Whatever you do, start saving now!
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