Are you confident that you are saving enough money to retire comfortably?
If you are anything like most Americans in 2020, the answer to that question probably isn’t going to make you feel very good about yourself.
In fact, the majority of Americans today are significantly undercapitalized for the lifestyle they expect to live throughout those golden years. But even the older generations in today’s workforce still have time to make changes to alter that projected future.
Whether you are just starting your career or the retirement deadline is looming large in your life, every single person in the country can improve their odds of retiring comfortably by simply following a very basic four-point plan.
1. How Much Are You Going to Spend?
The first step in putting together any type of retirement plan is to form some sort of estimate detailing exactly how much you expect to spend in order to maintain whatever level of lifestyle you anticipate having during those golden years.
Some find it easiest to form this estimate as an annual salary. Other people might prefer to break everything down to a weekly or monthly spending number. Whatever works for you is fine, you just need to come up with some type of ballpark number to describe what your retirement lifestyle is going to look like.
2. Break Out the Calculators
Once you have a general idea of how much you are going to be spending during your retirement years, the next step is to use that number as one of the many variables that go into a retirement calculator.
These calculators are available for free all over the web, and they will also ask you to fill in information like how soon you plan to retire and how many years you can expect to live beyond that retirement age.
Once these calculators have all of your information, they can process how much you need to add to your retirement nest egg in order to make sure that it lasts as long as you do.
3. Monitor Your Progress Regularly
While many Americans never even make the effort to explore those first two points, the part that really gets just about everyone is making sure that you continually monitor your progress and reassess your retirement goals as you progress towards that retirement date.
Force yourself to review your progress towards your retirement goals at least once every year. This will allow you to make any necessary adjustments in time to correct course before your retirement arrives.
4. Stay Alert to Potential Hazards
Once you have all three of those steps handled, the only thing that you have to worry about is avoiding the major black swan events that can derail even the best-laid plans.
You probably won’t ever be quick enough to perfectly time the market, but it doesn’t take a stock market genius to stay conservative during rough patches. Always protect your investments.
No matter where you are today and what you might have in terms of retirement expectations, just about anything is possible in the United States today. Following this four-point plan is one of the best ways to make sure that you are always putting yourself in a position to retire with the exact lifestyle you want.
