Here's a piece from Yahoo Finance that lists four ways to ruin your retirement. Their list:
1. Trust Uncle Sam.
2. Spend too much; save too little.
3. Buy high; sell low.
4. Procrastinate.
My thoughts on these:
1. I'm counting on nothing from Social Security, so I'm saving like I'm going to fund my entire retirement myself. Anything I get from the government will be gravy. But even if you're counting on something from Social Security to be a part of your retirement, I agree with their advice on the issue:
Remember that Social Security can supplement your income, but it won't pay for your retirement in and of itself -- you need to do your part.
2. Again we get back to spending less than you earn -- and making that gap as wide as possible. Do you hear a recurring theme here?
3. My solution for this: buy index funds.
4. Yes, time allows the power of compounding to work for you. So save early and save often. Even if it's a small amount, put away whatever you can now and keep adding to it. Over the course of years, it will really, really add up.
For more on retirement, see Best of Free Money Finance: Retirement Posts.
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