Retirement Starts Today

Nobody likes to be the boring, old-fashioned guy that always talks about retirement. But can you really afford to ignore it? Despite the common perception, retirement saving is really a young man’s game. These are your prime earning years which means this is your best chance to put away for retirement. The idea is to work less the older you get, saving your energy and time for more important, or at least more interesting, pursuits. To figure how much you need to save, ask yourself how much you’d like to have per month to live on in your golden years. What do you think your rent and living expenses will be? Entertainment? Hobbies? Travel? Base your calculations on a year’s time frame and then multiply by 20 years (assuming you’ll retire at 60 and live to about 80). If you want to retire at 50, multiply by 30. Then take that total number and divide it by the number of years difference between your current age and your desired retirement age. That’s how much you should be putting aside every year to reach your goal. You’re likely to find that you’ll redo your calculations a couple times based on what you can afford. But once you’ve got a plan in place you’ll be set for life - literally.