Saving for retirement…

Time for a financial rant – based on a recent news article.

One of the first things to do upon making your JumpToConsulting is to set up a retirement account. Trust me — years later you will be glad you did. I am!

According to a recent on-line article by CNBC, about half of US families have ZERO retirement savings. Nearly 70% of adults have less than $1000 in retirement accounts. Not good…

So take this important step right away, even if you are moonlighting. You can do it as part of setting up your business bank account, with automatic transfers to savings.

Better yet, set up automatic transfers to an IRA with Fidelity or Schwab.

We did this soon after starting EMIGURU. We first set up Fidelity IRAs. Several years later, our accountant suggested a Keogh, which let us put aside up to 25% of our income.

The best part is that 25% is tax deferred. In the meantime, compounding does its magic.

We use a financial planner with who manages the Keogh (and other investments) through Schwab. Fees are based on a per-centage of the portfolio, which in my opinion is the only way to go. As such, he is a fellow consultant and fiduciary, which means (unlike a broker) he puts my financial interest first.

Why not do it yourself? You can, but I prefer having a professional manager, letting me concentrate on making more money at what I do best. The same reason I use an accountant, lawyer, and other professionals.

Here are some savings guidelines/suggestions from the article:

  • By age 30, have your annual salary saved.
  • By age 35, have twice your annual salary saved.
  • By age 40, have three times your annual salary saved.
  • By age 45, have four times your annual salary saved.
  • By age 50, have five times your annual salary saved.
  • By age 55, have six times your annual salary saved.
  • By age 60, have seven times your salary saved.
  • By age 65, have eight times your salary saved

Fidelity simply recommends salary saved by age 30, and ten times your salary by age 67.

When younger, I must confess I was lax about this myself. Fortunately, my business partner insisted we do this. We started at age 45 for me. Never missed the money, and after 25 years at 25%, we both ended up with nice nest eggs.

Now at age 70 and starting to draw on the Keogh, I’m so glad we did this!

It is never to early (or late) to start. Do it TODAY – whether you are consulting or not!

End of rant. Remember, Uncle Daryl wants YOU to find your freedom too!

P.S. Stay tuned. The long promised Newsletter is about to launch, along with a free white paper based on a recent magazine article. If you have not done so, sign up now.

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4 Responses to Saving for retirement…

  • I’d say this is good advice for almost everyone, whether or not you’re consulting! Amazing how many of my peers in the corporate world don’t even max out their 401k matching.

    • Nice to hear from you, and thanks for the comment.

      Yes, it is amazing how lax people can be. Even more amazing is how fast time goes by. Not maxing out 401K matching is like burning up tax-free dollars. Many of my peers are now struggling since they did not plan for retirement. So keep on matching and saving!

  • Thanks for pointing this out. I regularly see people who aren’t on track to cover even a quarter of their expenses in retirement.

    The numbers are black and white, they say if you aren’t on track “Save more, spend less, or die earlier.”

  • Thanks, Tom. And thanks for helping me stay on track.

    The consulting biz let me “make more so I could save more” while still spending less. I don’t like the last option you offered đŸ™‚

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