Having a well-managed retirement plan is what each and every person should do. But then, how to save for your retirement when you are having enough trouble keeping up with your bills every month?
I believe this is the situation many, if not most, of us faces these days. With the uncertain economic outlook, retirement planning can be a little bit trivial. The question may of us ask to ourselves is: “How can I find enough money to safe for the future when today is already difficult enough?”
Take heed – here are a few suggestions you and I can benefit from to help our money-saving endeavors easier (although not that easy to achieve.)
First of all, to get things work out your way initially, you must have the willingness to make a few changes, especially in your mindset and financial policies. In fact, it all comes down to one, single big change you must make: making a commitment. Without a commitment – and the right financial planning to go along with such commitment – most likely nothing will never change, ever.
Here is what you should do. Make a commitment to yourself (or to your loved ones) that you shall do whatever it takes to change things for the better. Make a commitment that no matter what, you have to make your financial situation better.
For sure, the change wouldn’t happen overnight. So, give yourself a reasonable time frame through milestones and goals-setting to make it happen. Write down your commitment, and put it in your most-commonly visited place, e.g. your office desk, your bedroom, etc.
Next – get ready to make things happen! Here are some tips for saving money to get you started in your retirement planning; these tips will work wonders even when money is tight:
First, take some time to read your commitment each and every day. The more you believe in what you are committed to, the more you will be willing to take action and start seeing results.
Second, find and think of ways to make extra money. Here are some suggestions:
– start your own business
– sell stuffs around your house that you don’t need any more (tips: do a garage sale or sell them on eBay!)
– get a part-time job
– make money online (hot!)
Third, take out your checkbook and start writing down a list of your expenses for the last three months (or at least for the last month.) You have to write everything, as hidden things are often pile up quite a lot. Next, you must decide which expenses you can eliminate (I’ve warned you before – this won’t be easy!) You must also decide which ones of your expenses that can be reduced:
– cable TV
– cell phone
– internet service
– newspapers
– magazines
– entertainment
– eating out
– luxuries
– anything else you can live without
Be creative. Be honest. And be committed!
Last step – secure your excess cash in a place (e.g. bank account) that you know you would ‘kill’ yourself if you lay your hands on it.
To sum it all up – For your retirement planning, you need to be committed, follow the right money-saving strategy, and secure your excess money in an ‘untouched’ account. Repeat and rinse. You will soon see you are becoming a master of personal finance and will most likely build up a retirement fund in an amount that you are actually surprising yourself for being able to commit!
To note, your retirement account is not your investment account. Unlike what many think, your 401K plan and similar retirement plan is nothing more than an investment account (which means they follow how the money market moves.) Again, consider separating your retirement account with your ‘retirement’ account.
