Get Retirement Ready


It's always been a thing of mystery as to the reason why some people do well in life and others do not. How can it be that most of us spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and 50 weeks a year for the better part of our lives working at one job or another and still end of broke in our retirement years? Why do we often get up every morning determined to do the minimum that simply earns us a paycheck day-in-day out? Why is it that only 5% of the population actually make the grade financially?

Even though we live in the richest country on earth, gaining financial independence seems to be a dream for 95% of Americans today, oftentimes due to lack of planning. Many of us spend up to 40 years of our adult lives or more working with nothing to show for it at retirement age. In a January 2018 article on https://www.marketwatch.com, millions of Americans are said to be one paycheck away from being out on the street. In another article on https://www.bankrate.com, it is revealed that most Americans don’t have enough savings to cover a $1,000 emergency. Sadly, the tendency to have no emergency savings is highest among those aged between 53 and 62.

According to 2015 data from the U.S. Census, the median household income in the United States is $56,516. This means that if a man works for 40 years from age 25 to 65, he makes $2,260,640 in his lifetime but where does it all go? Robert Kiyosaki of the "Rich Dad Poor Dad" classic accurately said "Most people fail to realize that, in life, it's not how much money you make. It's how much money you keep." True financial success has nothing to do with what we earn but everything to do with the money we are able to put aside in savings. If the money we make is going out through the back door just as quickly as we bring it in through the front door, this is a serious indictment.

We should aim to keep a minimum of 15% of our earnings every single month over our work lives. If we can systematically save more than 15% of our income every month for retirement, we stand a chance of retiring comfortably. Remember all those we call lucky that are ready for retirement do not suddenly come into a large windfall at the age of 65, they took time and effort to plan for it and stuck to their plans.

Are you adequately securing your financial future? If your answer is no, there is no better time to get smart and serious about your money.

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