Ingredients for Retirement: It’s Not What You Think!

A satisfying retirement fund relies on much more than a chunk of change: in order to collect and protect a sum that will truly provide your ideal retirement, you’ll want a combination of financial tools and tactics to get you there.

Successful retirement saving begins and continues to grow thanks to these three elements:

• Emergency Fund: While an emergency fund may seem completely separate from your retirement savings, it’s not: one depends on the security provided by the other! If you set a goal of having an emergency fund large enough to cover a few months’ unemployment, you’ll be grateful that the cash on-hand helped prevent any disruption to your retirement savings schedule.
• Wrangle Your Debt: If you think you cannot afford to put money aside for retirement every month, or want to see accelerated growth, take a look at the amount you owe on your credit card bills every month. Your spending habits must be congruent with the control you want to demonstrate in your borrowing practices. If you have a balance that carries from month to month, however, this means your balance is likely earning interest. In addition, your purchases are becoming more expensive each month, and this interest owed is tapping into what otherwise would be retirement funding! Set a goal of paying down your credit card debt to a manageable amount, in order to avoid this savings slowdown.
• A (Realistic) Vision: Don’t view retirement as a dream: make it a plan! Research the cost of living in places that appeal to you for retirement, or, if you plan on traveling the world, figure out what those transportation and lodging costs will look like. Once you have a goal amount, you can calculate backwards. For example, how much would you need to save a month, for 25 years, to reach this amount on time? It is important that you keep in mind inflation, which is the increase in prices over time. Once you have an end-goal, you can feel assured you are making real growth toward a tangible future. If you calculate your desired sum, however, and feel unsure you will reach it on-time, consider taking on a second career to help you bridge that gap.

To learn more about retirement, and other ways to improve your financial life, visit the Syncis blog at https://www.syncis.com/blog/.