If you’re overwhelmed or intimidated at the thought of retirement, then worry no more.
YOU ARE IN LUCK!
I have found three simple steps for crafting your retirement sculpture and helping you along the road to retirement.
Not only has this worked for me personally, but it’s far easier than you think.
Let’s begin.
When a sculptor attempts to create a masterpiece, he or she does not try to accomplish the task in one sitting.
Instead, the artist allocates time, day-in and day-out, until the stone is molded into what they originally envisioned.
Now I ask, when planning for you retirement, why wouldn’t you do the same?
This fund is essentially a factor for determining your freedom and overall quality of life.
So why not treat the savings you will rely on for your remaining years the same way the artist would care for the masterpiece they are trying to sculpt?
The first step towards retirement is to make the decision to start planning for it.
You cannot randomly nick away at the stone you are sculpting and expect your actions to result in a beautiful work of art.
Similarly, it’s near impossible for you to end up on a beach with a drink in your hand unless you prepare for it.
Avoid procrastination!
Make the decision to start prepping for your retirement TODAY.
A recent survey by Forbes shows that 7 in 10 Americans have less than $1,000 in savings.
These are the people who put off retirement.
They are like a sculptor with a stone they have yet to carve into, but the sooner you take the first chip from the stone, the sooner the statue will start to take shape.
Don’t be a part of the majority!
Take the road less travelled, begin with the end and envision what you want your life to look like during retirement.
Once you have an idea for the figure you wish to sculpt, you’re ready for step two: budget your expenses.
From mortgage payments to your Netflix subscription, track the money you spend on a monthly basis and set boundaries for those expenses to exist in.
Whatever you don’t spend… SAVE.
Easy enough, right?
There are plenty of methods for doing this; however, it can be as simple as downloading an app, such as Mint, onto your phone and letting it do the work for you.
No excuses!
Keeping track of your purchases will help determine the amount of finances you will need to sustain or even exceed your current lifestyle upon retirement.
A budget highlights the small, mundane day-to-day financial decisions that often fly under the radar and allows you to use them to your advantage.
Let me explain this over some coffee.
A $3 cup of coffee that you religiously purchase every morning doesn’t appear to be a big deal in the grand scheme of things.
However, over time, that coffee is costing you over $1,000 each year!
With that money back in your pocket, you would have more savings than 70% of people in the United States.
Get in the habit of saving for retirement.
Remember, every dollar that you set aside is another piece you can chisel from your stone.
So you have a clear mental image of your sculpture and you’ve already starting chipping away to shape it.
What comes next?
The final step is to invest what you save.
Just as a sculptor will smooth the edges and add final touches to their work, you must tend to your savings if you want them to grow into the masterpiece you intend.
For many people, this can be the scariest portion of the journey towards retirement.
Yes, there are hundreds of options for investing your money.
No, you don’t have sift through them all.
To make things easier on you, I’ve narrowed them down to IRAs and mutual funds.
With an IRA your hard-earned cash can grow tax free until you decide to withdraw it.
Here’s the catch…
There are limits on how much money you can put into the account each year. If you are over the age of 50, you can contribute $24,000. If under, you can only add up to $18,000.
Although riskier, mutual funds offer great potential for growth and they’re more secure than individual stocks, considering the shares are spread across multiple companies.
In short, there is no one-size-fits-all way to invest your savings and at the end of the day, it boils down to many different factors.
But there is one similarity they all share.
The longer you allow your savings to grow, the more prosperous they will become.
In the same sense, the more time an artist devotes to crafting a sculpture, the more impressive the final product will be.
Plan, save, and invest.
Follow these three steps and sculpt your retirement into a masterpiece!
