One of the things that is on everyone’s mind lately is to decide how much money to save so that we won’t be short of money in retirement. Of course, while you are working, especially in the beginning of your work career, thinking of retirement is so far away that you may give it only a passing glance. However, your retirement should be part of your overall work career. Planning ahead (as far as is reasonable) is always a good idea, especially in this declining society. It is wise to put together at least an overall plan to pay the bills and to enjoy those golden years after you are released from the servitude of a work life. All the parts of your normal life will still need to be attended to in retirement and costs of goods and services will never be as inexpensive as they are these days. Truly a sobering thought!

Most folks will have some sort of pension plan to help with the daily cost of living in America. Whether it be Social Security payments, a company pension plan, 401K, IRA, or other periodic payment, these payments will probably not be enough to pay for the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed; you will need something extra to fill in the gaps. Most of us will work until the grim reaper appears. A part time job, a continuation of the work career, taking in boarders, or some other income producing method, will most certainly help out. Still, when it comes to love and/or money, more is better. Starting a savings program for yourself, as early as possible, is a good idea.

One way to gauge how much to save on a weekly basis is to try to figure out how much you will need to have when you stop working to continue in the lifestyle that you have created. Given that you are living comfortably right now, you can surmise that you will need at least that much to live on in the future. Things will change. Hopefully by the time you retire you will have paid off your mortgage, paid for any school loans, and cleared away any credit card debt. Those payments can be subtracted from whatever you figure your monthly payments will be in retirement. If you have raised your kids and seen them off to live their own lives then that is another expense that you will not have in the future. Before you get too excited about expenses going down, be aware that other costs will escalate. The staple items, like food, clothing, utility bills, and others, will cost more than they do now. Therefore, we can see that a little more figuring is in order. In years past the rule of thumb was to seek to bring in eighty percent of what you earned during your working years during retirement. Unfortunately, that rule of thumb doesn’t work anymore. Now we must seek to bring in one hundred percent, or more, of what we earned while working.

Here are two guidelines to follow: first, always put away ten percent of your pay each pay period. Put this money in an IRA, or other fund where you can see some sort of increase in interest over time. Even if the interest just keeps up with inflation, you are doing well. Never touch this money for any reason; you want this little nest egg to grow for the future. No matter what happens, always put your ten percent into this account. If you start early in your work life, there will be many years of saving a few dollars per week, hopefully compounding each year. Second, take any extra cash you may have after paying the bills and put this money into your nest egg. Look for ways to make this amount as large as possible. Stop ordering pizza, stop going out so often, eat at home, carpool, and many other methods to save a buck. Take all extra money from these things and save it. Before long you will notice a nice amount of money starting to accumulate. Project this money over a couple decades of saving and you can imagine that you will have a tidy sum to enjoy when you sit back and relax during retirement. How much to save? Save everything that you can every day and in every way.