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retirement savings

Tuesday’s need-to-know money news

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: How early withdrawals can take a chunk out of your retirement savings. Also in the news: The smart way to go into debt, retirement mistakes you need to avoid, and three ways consumers become victims of identity theft.

How Early Withdrawals Can Tax Your Retirement Savings
Taxes and penalties abound.

The Smart Ways to Go Into Debt
Yes, you read that correctly.

The 7 Retirement Mistakes That Finance Experts Tell Their Clients to Avoid
You don’t want to make these.

3 Ways Consumers Fall Victim to Identity Theft
You’ll want to avoid these, too.

Laziness Can Cost You: 5 Ways Renters Set Themselves Up for Failure
Due diligence and research is an absolute must.

Friday’s need-to-know money news

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailToday’s top story: What numbers identity thieves want the most. Also in the news: How identity thieves will sell those numbers, expecting the unexpected if you retire at 67, and should you be saving for your retirement or your child’s education?

8 Numbers Identity Thieves Want to Steal From You
It starts with your phone number.

4 Ways Crooks Cash In On Your Personal and Financial Data
The black market for data.

Are You Planning to Work Until 67? And Will You Be Able To?
Preparing for unexpected changes.

Which Comes First: Saving Money for Your Retirement? Or Your Kid’s College?
Which priority is most important?

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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imagesToday’s top story: five money mistakes we all make. Also in the news: the high costs of commuting, which monthly payments you should keep or drop, and exposing the hidden fees that eat up your retirement savings.

5 Money Mistakes Even Diligent Savers Make
And how to avoid them.

The High Cost of Your Daily Commute
All that time spent in the car can add up quickly.

12 Monthly Payments You Should Add – or Drop
To keep or not keep Netflix?

FeeX Exposes the Hidden Fees that Eat Up Your Retirement Savings
A warning system for fee deductions.

10 tips for grocery shopping on a budget
This year’s crazy weather has driven up the cost of food.

Money rules of thumb: Retirement edition

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Thumbs upFor every rule of thumb, there are hundreds of people who would quibble with it.

We saw that just recently with a USA Today columnist who quantified exactly how much you need to save for retirement (his answer, via an analysis by T. Rowe Price: $82.28 a day). Lots of people didn’t like that the number was an estimate, an average, and that their own mileage may vary.

But many more people don’t have the patience, knowledge or energy to sort through all the potential factors for every financial decision. Sometimes, they just want an answer.

Over the next few days, I’m going to share the most helpful rules of thumb I know. They aren’t going to apply to everyone in all situations. But if you’re looking for guidelines (or guardrails), there are a starting point.

Let’s start with retirement:

Retirement comes first. You can’t get back lost company matches or lost tax breaks, and every $1 you fail to save now can cost you $10 to $20 in lost future retirement income. You may have other important goals, such as paying down debt or building an emergency fund, but you first need to get started with retirement savings.

Save 10% for basics, 15% for comfort, 20% to escape. If you start saving for retirement by your early 30s, 10% is a decent start and 15% should put you in good shape for a comfortable retirement (these numbers can include company matches). If you’re hoping for early retirement, though, you’ll want to boost that to at least 20%. Add 5-10% to each category for each decade you’ve delayed getting started.

Don’t touch your retirement funds until you’re retired. That pile of money can be tempting, and you can come up with all kinds of reasons why it makes sense to borrow against it or withdraw it. You’re just robbing your future self.

Keep it simple–and cheap. Don’t waste money trying to beat the market. Choosing index mutual funds or exchange-traded funds, which seek to match market benchmarks rather than exceed them, will give you the returns you need at low cost. And cost makes a huge difference. If you put aside $5,000 a year for 40 years, 1 percentage point difference in the fees you pay can result in $225,000 less for retirement.

 

Thursday’s need-to-know money news

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money-bucketsToday’s top story: What you need to save every day for a comfortable retirement. Also in the news: The three tax buckets, the 10 commandments of savings, and four boring but essential money conversations.

$82 a Day Is the Average Savings for a Comfortable Retirement
$82.28 to be exact.

What Pre-Retirees Should Be Asking About Taxes
Introducing the three buckets.

The 10 Commandments of Saving Money
Thou shall follow these rules.

4 Boring Money Talks You Need to Have
Boring but necessary.

How to Find Financial Assistance for Your Down Payment
Don’t let your down payment hold you back.

How to start investing

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Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailA reader recently posted this question on my Facebook page:

Liz, I’m 30 years old and looking into starting [to invest in] mutual funds and IRAs and have no idea where to start. I know I really need to invest for the future and am eager to do so, but again, have no knowledge on any of this nor know where to start. Any advice or pointers would be more than appreciated.

I suggested he start with reading two really good books for beginning investors, Kathy Kristof’s “Investing 101” and Eric Tyson’s “Personal Finance for Dummies.” But here’s a summary of what you’ll learn:

Get started investing as soon as possible, even if you don’t quite know what you’re doing. You’ll learn along the way, and you really can’t make up for lost time.

Invest mostly in stocks. Stocks over time offer the best return of any investment class, and provide you the inflation-beating gains you’ll need for a comfortable retirement.

Don’t try to beat the market. Few do consistently. Most people just waste a lot of money. Instead, opt for mutual funds or exchange traded funds that try to match the market, rather than beat it.

Keep fees low, low, low. Wall Street loves to slather them on, but fees kill returns. Here’s an example: An annual IRA contribution of $5,000 can grow to about $1 million over 40 years if you net a 7 percent average annual return. If you net 6 percent, that lowers your total by a $224,000. That’s a heck of a lot to pay for a 1 percentage point difference in fees.

If you have a workplace retirement plan such as a 401(k), that’s where you should start investing. If you don’t, then an IRA you open yourself is the next best thing.

So here’s a prescription for getting started: Open an IRA at Vanguard, which prides itself on its low expenses. Send them a check for $1,000 (the minimum to get started with an IRA). Choose a target date retirement fund that’s close to the year when you expect to retire (in this reader’s case, that would be the Vanguard Target Retirement 2050). Target date funds take care of everything: asset allocation, investment choices, rebalancing over time for a more conservative mix as you approach retirement age. You can get the $20 annual account fee waived if you sign up for online access and opt for electronic delivery of account documents.

There you go–you’re on your way.