Saving for retirement can be an intimidating task. You want to make sure that you save enough to live comfortably once you retire, but you want to still be able to enjoy your life and spend money now while you’re young. Luckily, you can still aggressively save for retirement without having to leave off of ramen and ice for the next twenty years.
Create a budget
This is one of the biggest keys to saving, whether it’s for retirement or not. The first thing you need to do is write out what your expenses are, and where you money will go each month. This is the money that you have to spend. Then you’ll have a good idea of how much money you’ll have leftover at the end of each month to spend or save.
The next step is to eliminate the things that aren’t necessary. That doesn’t mean cutting down your grocery budget. Maybe you pack lunch for work instead of going out, or you cut your weekly starbucks trips in half and bring your own coffee to work instead.
Get rid of credit card debt
Don’t make minimum payments on your credit cards. Make an effort to pay off as much as possible every month. By paying just the minimum payment, you’re accruing interest and digging yourself into a deeper hole. You also want to reverse the bad habits that have gotten you into credit card debt. If you’re an impulsive shopper, you need to figure out how to break that habit. The only way to avoid credit card debt is to only spend money that you know you have in your checking account. If you don’t have the money to pay for it now, you probably won’t have the money to pay for it later.
Contribute to a retirement planning account
IRAs or a 401(k) have higher rates of return than a regular savings account, and you don’t have to pay taxes on that money until you start withdrawing it. By putting your savings into one of these accounts, you’ll end up saving a lot more money for retirement than if you use a traditional savings account.
Sell things you don’t use
If you bought a treadmill a few years ago but then never ended up using it, consider selling it. Any money that you get from selling unnecessary things should go straight into your savings account, rather than being used as spending money. Or, if you own a home, consider renting out a room or portion of your home on a site like Airbnb. Again, this extra income should go straight into a savings account.