FYI: We’re faced with a host of thorny retirement issues: Keep Social Security solvent. Make Medicare affordable. Many Americans aren’t saving enough. They want to retire earlier than they can reasonably afford. They’re effectively financially illiterate.
But in the end, you don’t need to worry about all Americans. Instead, what you need to worry about is you.
Want a comfortable retirement? Here are my 10 commandments:
Regards,
Ted
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-10-commandments-of-retirement-2018-08-21/print
Comments
Perhaps that should be #1.
(I'll grant that the focus of the article's "comfortable" retirement was financial issues. But not much else matters without good health.)
David
“Pay yourself first.”
Strong didn’t originate that. He borrowed it from elsewhere. But, holy cow, did that make a difference in how I viewed money. Til I read that (in his typically glossy literature) I was burning through my monthly income stream as fast as possible, maxed-out on 2 or 3 credit cards all the time, regularily using cash advances on an “overdraft” credit union checking account to make it to the end of each month. You can’t save under those circumstances. Suddenly, the idea of building assets - instead of debt - became appealing.
Of course, there were a lot of other positive influences. But I credit that one with really turning things around. What it does to your brain is to get you thinking of regular saving as giving something to yourself - instead of the natural thought that you’re taking something away.
Anyway, perhaps some younger folks will read or hear of this and benefit by it. And that’s my only reason for bringing it up - that it might help someone else.