You know you need to save for your retirement, obviously. But between paying off your student loans and working towards a home of your own, you might not have time to think much about retirement planning. There are strategies out there that will empower you to have a fulfilling life now and a sizeable chunk of cash for your future.
Retirement Planning and Your Student Loans
It might seem as though the money you borrowed for school that was supposed to empower your rocket to success has instead become the ball and chain holding you back. A lot of college grads assume that they need to pay off their loans before any other financial transactions can take place. Professional retirement planning coaches can teach you strategies that will enable you to work toward all your financial goals simultaneously without having to live in a van down by the river in order to make it happen.
Did you know that making your minimum student loan payment while investing in a retirement account is a smarter long-term move than paying off all your loans first and then investing, provided the return on your investments is greater than the interest rate on your loans?
Life Hacks and Funding the Future
Many twenty-and thirty-somethings think that they just can’t afford to save for retirement, but there are tons of smart ways that you can set aside money for your future. Many of these life hacks are painless and some of them can reap benefits beyond basic and into awesome.
1. Kick the Habit – If you smoke two packs a day, stop it right now and put that $300 a month into a Roth IRA. Not only will you have a sizeable nest egg one day but you’ll also live long enough to enjoy it.
2. Auto-Pay – Take a job that automatically enrolls you in a 401(k) plan with company-matched contributions. Since that money was never in your checking account, you shouldn’t miss it. Plus, you’ll be generating the wealth you’ll need to create the memories and experiences that make life worth the effort.
4. Tighten it Up – Enlist your smartphone as a weapon for saving for the future. Once a week, forgo your favorite double-venti-espresso-gloppy-atto designer coffee and use your banking app to instantly move that $10 to your savings account instead. That way your retirement account does not have to double as your emergency fund. Who knows, you might get so buzzed watching your savings grow that you decide to opt out of even more recreational substances and put more money toward your future.
Retirement Planning That Makes Sense for You
As you make the switch from survival mode to futurescaping, you’ll want to talk with a financial planning coach who knows what it takes to be successful in the place you are now, with an eye toward where you want to be in the future. You need to talk to people who know what it’s like to live and work where you do and who understand the local economic landscape as well as the inner machinations of your retirement accounts.
Takeaways
Retirement planning is not all that hard to accomplish once you see how easy it is to put aside a little bit on a regular basis. Remember, slow and steady wins the race.
No matter where you live, planning for your retirement now should help to keep you from missing out on a beautiful future.
