If you are like most people, you have not saved nearly enough money to maintain your standard of living once you retire from your job. According to a study from Fidelity Investments, the average retirement savings for 11.8 million 401k balances in America is just $74,600. In most cases, that is maybe the equivalent to a year’s salary. Certainly not enough to keep you in the life to which you have been accustomed for the twenty five or so years you will likely have left to live. If you are over 55 years old, you could be better off than the average of all retirement accounts, with the study showing you probably have about $130,000 in your … [Read more...]
How to Have a Happy Retirement – Both Financially and Mentally
It’s often been said that one of the biggest challenges to the elderly is being in retirement. What an ironic situation. You work nearly every day through the prime of your life for 30 years or so plotting and scheme different ways of saving your money so that one day you won’t have to work anymore. But then when you finally do retire, you stop and ask yourself “now what?” Unfortunately for most people the missing element to a happy retirement is a sense of purpose. That sense of belonging or feeling needed is no longer there. You no longer have the forced infrastructure of subordinates and colleagues running over to your desk every … [Read more...]
How to Save Your Money Wisely and Have Fun Again
To the normal person, retirement and everything related to it can be a complete bore. Thinking about how much money you’ll need when you’re done working and have grey hair can seem like eons from now. But in reality, you sooner you start saving, the more and more money you can have and easier things will be. As a matter of fact, retirement planning can actually be a lot of fun when you start really exploring the possibilities. Learning how to save your money wisely can be a fun way to challenge yourself and do something really effective with your time. By saving more effectively and using these simple strategies, you’ll have more … [Read more...]
How Do You Compare to These Trends from Fidelity 401k Plans?
Have you ever wondered how your retirement savings compares to everyone else’s? Even though everyone will have their own unique goals, it’s still human nature to be very curious when it comes to how you stack up against your peers. That’s one of the great things about the reports that come from Fidelity 401k plans. Every so often they will release statistics about things like 401k savings trends, contribution rates, and a whole lot more. How are they able to do this? Fidelity is one of the largest 401k providers in the nation. They host over 20,000 corporate plans and manage over 12 million participants. With a customer group that … [Read more...]
What is the Average Retirement Income and How Can You Exceed It?
Deciding how much money you’ll need in retirement is generally a pretty personal question. The actual amount will depend on a great number of variables; most important of which will be your living expenses. Regardless, you may find it helpful (and interesting) to know what the average retirement income for other people is so you can gauge how practical your needs really are. Since retirement income can come from a variety of sources, let’s first identify the most likely places where a retiree would receive money and then try to quantify what the total number would be. Common Sources of Retirement Income: Your Nest Egg. … [Read more...]
How Do You Compare to the Average Retirement Savings by Age?
No one wants to be left behind … especially when it comes to our money. We all know we should be saving up for a healthy retirement. And hopefully you’re making strides to do so! But have you ever been curious about how you’re doing compared to your peers? Perhaps you’ve wondered about the average retirement savings by age and where you should be at by now with the size of your nest egg? Unfortunately the way things go, there is a big difference between how much you SHOULD have saved by now and how much your peers actually have saved for retirement. On average most people don’t seem to be nearly as far along with building their life … [Read more...]
Do You Have an Average 401k Balance?
It's no secret that the average retirement savings for most Americans is not going to cut it. One of the central pieces to that problem is how people treat (or ignore) their 401k accounts. The amount of money that you save in your 401k is going to play an important role in your retirement. Although you may not be able to retire on the funds in your account without other available resources, it should still be core among several funds that will be used to meet your financial needs. According to a report from Fidelity Investments, the average 401k balance in the United States was $77,300 at the end of 2012. Unfortunately, if you think … [Read more...]