If there’s one thing that we can all agree on, it’s that we lead busy lives. Whether you’re in your final years of working or early stages of retirement, it’s important that you carve out enough time to do the things you love, with the people you love. But the important question remains: Will I have enough money to achieve my goals and sustain my current lifestyle in retirement? While we know that this is a “loaded” question with many factors playing into it, we also know that regularly reviewing a few things, like your savings strategy, can help put you on the right path toward a safe, secure, and enjoyable life in retirement. So, here are 3 quick tips to help get your savings on track.
Tip #1: Automate Your Savings
Your current and future income can be distributed to you in a variety of ways, but one thing that remains constant is the need to save. Psychologically speaking, we know how hard it can be for people to choose not to spend their money that’s right in front of them. The entire field of behavioral economics has given us new understanding of how much better we can all do with our finances when the details are just taken out of our hands. By automating your savings, you won’t have to do the work of moving money around every time you receive a paycheck. Also, as we’re talking about automating your savings, consider automating your bills to help avoid paying any late fees. Everyone makes mistakes or misses a deadline now and then, but when it happens with something like your credit card, which can rack-up massive interest and force you to pay heavy penalties, the cost of that careless error can be detrimental to your retirement savings.
Tip #2: Review Your Current Bills
Typically, people will open their bills every month and pay the amount written on the page. But the truth is that a lot of bills are negotiable, if you think to negotiate on them. Depending on the service provided, many companies will run promotional events or alter their prices throughout the year. However, they likely will not be coming directly to you to try and help you lower your monthly bill. So, why not simply call your bill provider and ask if there are any better rates or special offers available to you? You can start the process by listing out all your regular bills, whether they’re monthly or annual, to get a good handle on the amount you’re paying, and what it’s for. When you’re going through your list, perhaps you’ll find a re-occurring magazine subscription to something you no longer read or are interested in, which you can cancel and save money on. And, as we mentioned above, you might want to consider setting up automated payments for certain bills to help avoid any added interest or late fees.
Tip #3: Consolidate Your Debt
If you have multiple loans, it could be easy to lose track of all your debt payments and thus end up dealing with the consequences. Instead, you can look to group all your debts into a single, monthly bill. There’s a good chance this could help lower your interest rate and monthly payments now that all these different types of debt are factored in together. Be sure to include any potential credit card debt you have when grouping your other debts together.
Ultimately, it’s as simple as spending a few minutes to learn what the savings opportunities are, and then take the necessary steps to take advantage of them. Not everyone realizes that there are a few easy ways to reduce your bills or consolidate your debt, which could help pay tremendous dividends down the road in your retirement. Don’t wait until retirement to start living life, and don’t let bills and late fees prevent your nest egg from reaching its maximum potential. We’ll work together to help you create a plan that works for you and your goals for retirement.
