Many studies show that Americans have inadequate savings for retirement. So how do we get up to snuff?
USA Today retirement columnist Rodney Brooks offers several ideas to build up a $1 million retirement nest egg.
- Save early and often to experience the magic of compounding. An annual return of 7.2 percent will double your portfolio in 10 years. And what about those of us in a higher age bracket who have ignored this advice? "You are trying to make up for what time has not done," Chris Chaney, vice president at Fort Pitt Capital Group, tells USA Today. "You have to save a lot more."
- If your company has a 401k plan, join it. You pay no taxes on your contributions until you retire, and many employers match at least part of employees' contributions.
- Utilize automatic deductions from your paycheck for savings. "You don't have to think about it," Bob Gavlak, a financial adviser at Strategic Wealth Partners, explains to USA Today.
Surveys show that about one-third of unretired Americans have no retirement savings, including about 20 percent of households aged 55 to 64, and that's a major problem.
"Many people are just too emotional and typically overwhelmed when it comes to saving for retirement," Melody Juge, president of Life Income Management retirement advisory firm,
tells the New York Post."They put it off, and then it becomes too late to save."
Life circumstances can easily get in the way. "People can have medical conditions and other circumstances, so they just don’t save,” financial adviser Anthony Ogorek tells the paper.
"Then they intend to keep working into their 60s, but they are no longer able to do so."
Many people are relying on Social Security to finance their retirement, but the average Social
Security recipient garnered only $1,300 a month in 2014, or $15,600 for the year. Social Security rules may need to be changed to require workers to save for retirement, Ogorek says.