Financial planning isn’t exactly the most riveting thing you can do with your time. Sitting down to make a budget and spending plan can feel restrictive. It’s no wonder so many of us put off financial planning, and later find ourselves under-prepared for retirement!
But look at it this way: If you define your goals now, and start preparing for them, you’ll enjoy your retirement years that much more. So yes, budgeting and planning for the future really does lead to fun; it’s just a delayed payoff.
Start by envisioning your ideal retirement. Where will you live? How will you spend your days? Get yourself geared up to focus on preparing for the future. Set a savings goal for your retirement account, and decide how much you need to contribute each pay period in order to reach that goal.
Next, set up automatic contributions to that retirement account. The idea behind automatic contributions is simple: When you don’t have to think about it each pay period, you won’t have to decide how much to contribute to the account. You won’t experience that temptation to skimp a little, promising yourself that you’ll contribute more next month.
You’ll be paying yourself first, and arranging the rest of your budget around your paycheck after the contribution has been deducted. This makes budgeting much more simple, and helps you reorder your priorities to focus on your future.
And the best part of automatic contributions? It’s so easy to do! Plus, now you can maximize the tax advantages of contributing to a qualified retirement account, and you will thank yourself next spring at tax time.
As for the amount of those contributions, give us a call. We should discuss your retirement goals and help you decide how much to save each pay period.