{"id":7063,"date":"2013-10-14T13:03:53","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T20:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/?p=7063"},"modified":"2016-12-21T07:28:21","modified_gmt":"2016-12-21T15:28:21","slug":"retirement-savings-kick-start-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings stats are pretty scary: Fewer than half of Americans have even calculated what they might need to retire.<\/p>\n

Of the folks in workplace\u00a0401k plans<\/a>\u00a0(or similar), less than a third participate, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the average American spends 20 years in\u00a0retirement<\/a>. Savings is the key to enjoying those years, since employment after a certain point becomes less available and failing health can make work impossible.<\/p>\n

\"retirement<\/p>\n

So, you’re turning some age with a zero attached and you’re thinking, “Yes, I need to get serious about my\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings.” How does one even start?<\/p>\n

Here’s your\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings kick-start guide, step by step.<\/p>\n

1. Save, even if it’s a little bit at first<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is a huge difference between saving a small fixed amount and saving on a whim.\u00a0Retirement\u00a0savings<\/a>\u00a0you set aside only when you have a windfall is subject to being raided for short-term needs.<\/p>\n

It’s important to have a rainy day fund, a cushion in your savings account to avoid living check-to-check. But real\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings is money you lock away every paycheck, every month, without fail and without spending it down to cover a credit card bill. Get serious about this.<\/p>\n

2. Let the government and your employer help<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to get serious is to make the money evaporate from your check before you even get it. Talk to your human resources office about joining the company 401k plan. You’ll find that doing so gets you a tax break on your income and, often, a company match that vests pretty quickly \u2014 within a few years or even immediately.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, out of sight is out of mind. Your\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings<\/a>\u00a0can grow painlessly if you save it programmatically through your employer.<\/p>\n

3. Make a serious plan<\/strong><\/p>\n

A really big goal is great. But you have to make it real and specific. “I want to travel the world” is meaningless and won’t happen. “I want to spend two weeks in Spain by the end of this year” is very specific and might actually occur.<\/p>\n

Likewise, spell out your\u00a0retirement plan<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 in writing is best \u2014 in concrete terms. “I will move to Oregon and buy an apartment near the water, bike for exercise and take continuing education classes” is a great plan. “I can afford it using my estimated Social\u00a0Security, my 401k balance and by working part-time as a consultant” is even better.<\/p>\n

Can you get from here to there? Absolutely. Once you have a growing balance in your\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings plan it will soon be time to invest.<\/p>\n

Leaving your money to grow in a savings account is inviting\u00a0inflation<\/a>\u00a0to eat your dreams alive. Instead, invest using diversified, inexpensive\u00a0index funds<\/a>\u00a0and let rebalancing help you manage risk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0retirement\u00a0savings stats are pretty scary: Fewer than half of Americans have even calculated what they might need to retire. Of the folks in workplace\u00a0401k plans\u00a0(or similar), less than a third … Read more →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":7064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nRetirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, "Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings." How does one even start?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, "Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings." How does one even start?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Oregon_Coast_2.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@marketriders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@marketriders\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MarketRiders\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/\",\"name\":\"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-14T20:03:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-12-21T15:28:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/f2be262f5c0f3ed5ad50d6c40640ba8c\"},\"description\":\"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, \\\"Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings.\\\" How does one even start?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/\",\"name\":\"MarketRiders.com\",\"description\":\"How To Become A Better Investor\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/f2be262f5c0f3ed5ad50d6c40640ba8c\",\"name\":\"MarketRiders\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e06113f594828daaf313d283544d566?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e06113f594828daaf313d283544d566?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MarketRiders\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/author\/support\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders","description":"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, \"Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings.\" How does one even start?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders","twitter_description":"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, \"Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings.\" How does one even start?","twitter_image":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Oregon_Coast_2.jpg","twitter_creator":"@marketriders","twitter_site":"@marketriders","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MarketRiders","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/","url":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/","name":"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide | MarketRiders","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-10-14T20:03:53+00:00","dateModified":"2016-12-21T15:28:21+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/f2be262f5c0f3ed5ad50d6c40640ba8c"},"description":"So, you're turning some age with a zero attached and you're thinking, \"Yes, I need to get serious about my retirement savings.\" How does one even start?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/retirement-savings-kick-start-guide\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Retirement Savings Kick-Start: A Guide"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/","name":"MarketRiders.com","description":"How To Become A Better Investor","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/f2be262f5c0f3ed5ad50d6c40640ba8c","name":"MarketRiders","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e06113f594828daaf313d283544d566?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e06113f594828daaf313d283544d566?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MarketRiders"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.marketriders.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/author\/support\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7063"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7068,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7063\/revisions\/7068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketriders.com\/investing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}