Saving for retirement should start at an early age. Many people forget the importance of saving at a young age — this can affect you as you get older and are gearing up for retirement. Educating yourself on how much you need to save will help you make a plan.

Not Knowing How Much to Save

It should be your goal to have a comfortable retirement, but not taking steps to make that happen will leave you with being unprepared for retirement down the line. Based on the 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey, only 41 percent of working Americans have tried to calculate how much money they need in retirement. 38 percent have estimated how much income they would need each month in retirement and only 34 percent have determined their expense in retirement. Start planning for your future by knowing how much you need to save.

Solution: Use a calculator to help you identify a ballpark number how much you should save each month to get to your retirement goal.

Not contributing to an IRA or 401(k)

It can seem tedious to get started, but once you open your account, all you have to do is contribute. If you choose an IRA or 401(k), you will receive specific tax advantages for saving. If you don’t save in one of these accounts, you could be missing out on significant tax savings.

Solution: Decide if an IRA or 401(k) is right for you and start contributing. You can open an IRA account with DEXSTA.

Not Saving Enough

Based on the 2017 Retirement Confidence Survey, 64% of the people who calculated how much they would need for retirement, estimate they will need $500,000 or more. You might think it will be easy just to work a few more years to make up the difference — that is usually not the case. When you start saving early, it is easier to stay on your savings target.

Solution: Now that you know your ballpark number (based on the first solution), make a plan that aligns to your investment decisions and money behaviors. Continue to save and try to increase your contribution by 3% each year.

DEXSTA | Help with Retirement

Long and short-term financial goals can be challenging. But, when you make a plan that fits your lifestyle, you’ll be able to make decisions and create an investment strategy that reflects your needs. Contact us online, by phone, or stop into one of our branches. We want to help you reach your financial goals.