Learn the 10 secrets to successfully save for retirement
- Glossary:
- Related Links:
Saving for retirement can be surprisingly easy if you make just a few savvy decisions — and avoid just a few stupid mistakes.
Indeed, you can be more successful than you ever imagined just by knowing, and following, our 10 secrets to retirement savings.
Start by accepting the harsh reality of do-it-yourself retirement.
Corporate pensions are going away. Government programs guarantee little more than an impoverished old age.
Building enough wealth to support yourself later in life has become a career-long task that starts the first day of your first job and doesn't end until your final day of work.
Now let's look at the 10 secrets that will help you accomplish that.
Secret 1. Don't be discouraged by how much you need.
Ideally you'll need enough savings to replace at least 60%, and preferably 80%, of your preretirement income.
Our retirement calculator allows you to see how much you'll need to achieve that — and it's a shocking number.
Let's say, for example, that you make $65,000 a year and want to retire about 30 years from now and replace 70% of your income for 25 years.
The retirement calculator says you'll need about $2 million — a daunting goal for almost anyone to reach.
But don't be discouraged.
Even if you can't possibly save as much as a retirement calculator says you'll need, the more you have, the better off you'll be.
So think of your goal more as motivation than an all-or-nothing destination.
Most of us can have a comfortable retirement if we can reach our 50s or 60s with $500,000 in savings.
We know that still sounds like a lot.
Only one in 10 workers, and one in five workers over 55, reported retirement savings of $250,000 or more in the 2012 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI).
But with a little effort, it's a meaningful and attainable goal.
Secret 2. Take advantage of your employer's 401(k) plan ...
These plans allow your retirement savings to grow tax-free, and it's virtually impossible to reach any goal if you don't take full advantage of that.
This is one of the two biggest tax breaks the government offers middle-income Americans, right up there with the mortgage interest deduction.
Many employers also match all or part of your contributions, another big boost you simply can't ignore.
The match is essentially free money, so you should contribute at least enough to maximize that match.
Our 7 rules for a successful 401(k) can help you make all of the right decisions about your retirement plan.
Secret 3. ... and Individual Retirement Accounts.
If you don't work somewhere that offers a 401(k) account, you should go to a mutual fund company, stockbroker or even your local bank to open an IRA.
Whether you choose a traditional or Roth IRA, the advantage is the same as for a 401(k) — your earnings can grow tax-free.
In 2011, you can contribute up to $5,000 per year (or $6,000 if you're 50 or older) to a traditional or Roth IRA.
Many savers can contribute to a 401(k) and IRA in the same year. Check with the person you choose to manage your IRA.
Secret 4. Set aside as much as you possibly can every year.
You can do everything else right, but if you don't save as much as you can every year, you're selling yourself short.
It's OK to start small, contributing 2% or 3% of your pretax income to a 401(k) plan.
But you've got to be realistic.
To achieve a reasonable level of financial security, workers in their 30s and 40s must consistently contribute between 10% and 15% of their pay to their retirement plans.
That's considerably more than the 7% to 8% Fidelity Investments says workers in this age group are stashing away.
Our 401(k) calculator shows how your nest egg will grow based on your contributions.
Secret 5. Stay in stocks.
You may very well be terrified of the stock market. After the extraordinary volatility of the past few years, we don't blame you.
But it's almost impossible to succeed at do-it-yourself retirement without taking that risk.
We can't guarantee that you'll earn a big enough return with stocks to reach your goal.
But we can absolutely guarantee that you won't earn enough with any other type of investment to get there.
Play around with our 401(k) calculator, and you'll see what we mean.
You'll need an average return of 7% or 8% a year to succeed, and stocks are the only type of investment that's posted such lucrative returns over an extended period of time.
Playing it safe by putting your money in certificates of deposit or money market funds that pay 1% or 2% a year won't cut it.
You have to think long term and not worry about the never-ending financial and economic crises that move the market every day.
Secret 6. The first $100,000 is the hardest to save.
When you're just starting out, contributions account for most of the growth in your retirement funds.
The longer you keep at it, and the larger your nest egg becomes, the more you'll earn from capital gains, dividends and interest.
Let's say you want your retirement savings to grow by $40,000 over the next year, and you earn a solid 8% annual return on your investments during that time.
If you start off with a modest $50,000 portfolio, you'll only make about $6,500 over the entire year from your investments and will need to add $2,880 a month from your paycheck.
But if you begin with a $400,000 portfolio, you'll make something like $32,800 from your investments and only need to add about $600 a month from your job to enjoy the same growth.
Our savings goal calculator will show you exactly how much you must contribute to your retirement accounts to build the nest egg you want.
Success Story: How one couple saved nearly $100,000 before turning 30. Marie Peters credits vivid childhood memories of her parents’ arguments while balancing their checkbook as a motivator for stockpiling cash for retirement and rainy days. “I never wanted to fight with my spouse about money,” she says. As a result, Marie and her husband Ed see saving as a lifetime endeavor, not a monthly afterthought.
Secret 7. Never cash out a 401(k) when you change jobs.
Nearly half of all workers cash out their 401(k) when they change jobs. They not only have to pay taxes on the money, but they have to pay a 10% penalty to the IRS.
This is the single biggest wealth-killing mistake many workers will make in their entire careers.
If you have $10,000 in your 401(k) that you've been building up for years and just cash out, you might be lucky to walk away with $7,500.
You need to roll your retirement savings into an IRA or a 401(k) plan at a new employer to have any chance of saving that first $100,000.
Secret 8. Always have an emergency fund.
Put aside money outside of your retirement accounts so that you don't have to tap them in case of an emergency. Six months of living expenses is a good start.
If you don't have six months, then slowly build your way up to it. Something is always better than nothing.
You never know when you might need money due to an auto accident, job loss, death in the family or stroke of bad luck. At a time like that, you don't want to raid your retirement fund and trigger taxes and penalties.
Secret 9. Think of Social Security as gravy.
Social Security is one of the most popular government programs in history, and it will probably be there for you, even if you're in your 30s — or even your 20s.
But it's impossible to predict how changes to benefit formulas, the cost-of-living adjustment and retirement age might affect future benefits.
What we do know is that the average monthly check was only $1,237 at the beginning of 2013, according to the Social Security Administration — and that's not much.
So think of your Social Security payments as the gravy on your retirement plans, an extra check that can make up part of any shortfall in your retirement income if you can't reach your savings goal.
When should you start collecting Social Security? Deciding when to start Social Security is one of the most important retirement decisions you’ll make. Is it smart to sign up for a check as soon as you turn 62, the youngest possible age? Or should you wait a few years, when you’ll qualify for a bigger monthly payment? Let our 6-step guide help you make the right call for your financial situation.
Secret 10. Use windfalls to make up for your shortcomings.
At some point in your life, you're likely to get a financial windfall of some kind.
It could be a small inheritance, an unexpected bonus at work or a modest payout on a lottery ticket.
If you spend it, that $10,000 or $20,000 isn't going to make much impact on your life.
But that money can provide a major boost to your savings.
This is one of the few ways you have to make up for all of those years when you couldn't — or wouldn't — contribute as much as you should have to your IRA or 401(k) or other investment accounts.
Think of it as a real life "get out of jail free" card.
Play it wisely.
If you have something to say, it’s incredibly easy to say it on Interest.com. You don’t have to sign up or login. Just go to the “Comments” box below this story and start sharing.
Follow Craig Guillot on Google Plus.
