Retirement Resolutions

1. Resolve to save your future life.

We all know we need to save money. It’s a mantra chanted so often that it fades into the background noise. Saving money without an important goal for those funds makes it tough to delay the pleasure of spending what we make today.

Saving for its own sake is far too difficult for most. Even saving for future things — even a car or a house — or a nebulous educational goal can be a challenge as those things may not be essential. Yes, a new car or a house might be nice, but you will probably get by without them. You hope you kids will go to college and would like to help them, but there are all manner of ways to fund a future education.

What if your life depended on what you save today? Well, it does.

Imagine you are 75 years old. Your health isn’t what it used to be. Working a 40 to 60 hour a week job just isn’t possible. But you failed to save and invest for retirement. What does your life look like?

Assuming Social Security is still paying something close to what it pays today, you will likely be living at the poverty level. Even if you managed to own your home, after paying for health care, taxes, utilities, and a host of other essential bills, you’ll just barely be putting enough food on the table. In other words, with no future earning potential and no savings, the life you have left is destined to be a struggle for survival.

You MUST resolve to make saving for retirement your primary financial goal. Until you can put enough away and invest it in such a way that is likely to lead to more than $1 million by retirement, you should save for no other purpose. What you save today might actually save your future life.

More retirement resolutions will be posted in the days ahead. You can also hear more on my radio show/podcast at talkingrealmoney.com