Consider Yourself Fortunate – Retirement
If you’re reading this, you probably have some basic financial knowledge. You are probably saving some money regularly. You probably think about your retirement periodically.
You’ve probably gone online and checked out a couple of tools to see if you’re on track. Am I right just a little bit? If so, consider yourself fortunate because you’re in a position of awareness and can hopefully set yourself up for a comfortable retirement. However, there are MANY that can’t.
Many Are Not Prepared For Retirement
Per CNBC, Americans on average have not even saved $100,000 for retirement. An even more staggering statistic is that the median for all families is $5,000! The full article is here: Average Saved For Retirement – Source: CNBC. Perhaps people are living more in the present, perhaps they have too much debt to be thinking about saving anything right now, perhaps they don’t even have a job, perhaps their employees doesn’t offer a retirement plan OR one with a matching contribution.
Apart from saving there are steps we should take in our lives to help transition ourselves for upcoming retirement. U.S. News & World Report simply explains some of these steps including downsizing your home, not going out as much and looking for alternative entertainment ways and staying on top of your health: Transitioning into Retirement – Source: MSN. By following these steps, we won’t be in such a lifestyle shock when we enter our retirement years.
I myself have a long way to go before retirement. But I think about it a lot for some reason. Mostly I think about what can I possibly do every day to fill in so much time? As a result, I don’t think I look forward to it because I like going to work, having a routine, enjoy my job and socializing with my co-workers.
So even sometimes on the weekend, I find that I am missing work. Ok sorry, I went off on a slight tangent there but I’m back on track.
So Many Need To Save So Much More
The average life expectancy in the US is almost 79 years. It’s no surprise that we’re living longer now than we were even 50 years ago (because I googled the average back in 1967 and it was almost 71 years.
This is attributed to advancements in medicine, organic food offerings, a variety of diets people have, the craze for working out, and the presence of reliable senior living communities like the one at https://www.simpsonsenior.org/communities/simpson-house/ and similar sites. A combination of these tends to facilitate a healthy life, regardless of age, which can thereby reduce the risks associated with chronic conditions, especially in old age.
But to build better longevity in terms of life expectancy, many follow a strict exercise regimen for decades. However, the amount of money spent on gym membership fees over the years can accumulate to a rather high level. So, if we have a gym membership that we’re paying $60 a month for, but not saving for our future, what’s the point of trying to stay healthy and active? It’s already evident that we are not saving enough for retirement anyway as a whole.
But just for kicks, let me see something. So based on the increased life expectancy of 8 years between 1967 and now how much extra would we need for retirement.
Per the Motley Fool, about $45,000 per year is being spent by Retirees. This includes expenses like Housing, Transportation, Healthcare, Food, Entertainment, Insurance, Cash, and Other. So for the extra 8 years of life, we would need an incremental $360,000 ($45,000 X 8 years). See the full article here: How Much is Needed in Retirement – Source: Motley Fool.
But, this is not the only reason for saving up! There are some who would want to maintain the same lavish style they had during the time of their constant income, which would not be possible if there is no money couped up in a savings account. For instance, if an individual wants to live in a 3-bedroom apartment in a senior community that offers all the resort-like amenities (like a community clubhouse) for retirees to enjoy their golden period, then such a person would need to be financially prepared for this. Otherwise, he/she might never be able to afford the desired lifestyle.
Encourage Others to Save
I believe that most people reading this are probably saving (some more than others, but that’s ok) and investing for their financial future. Some have planned their retirement well ahead of time. Investing in foreign real estate is a popular choice. So, if you are into buying a property in Malta, or any foreign country, do your research in detail. You might have the good financial management experience to carry out investments and retirement savings. So, since we have the financial knowledge, insight, and some awareness of tools and techniques to save for retirement, we should encourage our friends and family to save more. This is not something everyone is comfortable discussing, particularly if you’re not involved in Personal Finances.
The best example you can present is your own. If you’ve truly sacrificed something to help you save more, then you’ll be in a better position to convince others to do the same because it has worked for you. For example, I use the gym at my work during lunch. It doesn’t have ALL the equipment I would like, but it has plenty of machines and free weights to get a complete workout.
In addition, it’s free for me to use (compared to paying around $40 per month or $480 per year on a gym membership), and I don’t have to separately go to the gym before or after work which would take an additional 1-2 hours out of my day and away from my family.
Personally, I feel like I’m gaining something more in terms of time and money saved instead of sacrificing more training facilities which I may or may not use if I joined an outside gym. Actually when I tell my friends I work out at my work, they say I’m so lucky, but when I ask them if they have a gym at work, most of them say yes. Confusing right? I ask them why don’t you work out there and they say there too busy or it doesn’t have enough equipment and they’d rather go to a specific gym.
Do you have any ideas on how to encourage your friends and family to save more for, not just retirement, but an emergency account, trying to pay off their car earlier, credit card debt or student loans? Please share below.
I always try to convince my friends and family to save at least 6 months of expenses. And call it an emergency fund.
So far I’m not that successful in doing that. But I will keep trying.
Six months is definitely a good cushion. Some of my friends do have a retirement account, but contribute inconsistently unfortunately.
To encourage your friends/family to save more/pay off debt earlier… share your blog with them 😉
But seriously, I think someone people are just more open to financial advice than others. I have some friends who I openly have financial talks with regularly and, therefore, I will just share my advice with them. Meanwhile, I have other friends who are making bad choices and don’t really want to change that. These ones are much harder to get through to, so if the topic comes up, I will share my opinions, but many times they try not to mention finances.
I do share my blog posts on my personal Facebook, as well, especially on topics that I know a lot of people would benefit from.
Lol. I do share, but I’m not sure how effective that is at the moment. It’s true, some people are not comfortable talking about personal finances, but they’ll talk about all sorts of other things. I suppose talking about statistics in general in terms of savings and time in the workplace may be a good way to go around that.
I think for me it’s having them create the lifestyle that they want to live in retirement and how they are going to get there. I think when they put pen to paper that things really shake out and that they realize that the lifestyle they are living now will not get them to the lifestyle they want in the future. Once the light bulb goes off it seems to get them moving in a hurry 🙂
That seems like an effective strategy! It’s really hard for people to let go of habits/lifestyles they enjoy. Plus when you retire and do not have a regular job routine consuming so much of your time, that lifestyle can expand as well. Personally, I’m trying to simplify my lifestyle more and more.
I agree – it’s so shocking that so many people are so underprepared for retirement. Too many people get caught up in the “now” and think there aren’t any consequences to spending all of their paychecks and getting into debt on top of that while they’re young. Developing good financial habits should start early not in retirement!
I think this type of thing should be taught in schools (at least in college as perhaps a core course). I mean pretty much everyone retires right? And so many are unprepared and are forced to continue to work.
I think too many people think retirement isn’t even a possibility, so they don’t even bother trying.