Why start saving for retirement now?

Procrastination. Many people procrastinate having to mow the lawn or get out of bed in the morning. But why do so many people procrastinate saving for retirement? So many reasons exist as to why you should start saving now for retirement. Just think about the costs for food alone that you will incur in retirement. It's astronomical.

Social security will not be around forever. Many politicians believe that social security will slowly fade away, however, many others believe it will soon come to an abrupt end. The fact is that social security is barely hanging on as it is now. The system will fade away in the near future, so save while you can.

Break down the costs of retirement. How much will an average person need to save? That may be a difficult task, so just crunch the numbers for the cost of food alone in your retirement years. For an average person roughly 20 dollars a day will supply enough food to live comfortably. 20 dollars a day for 20 years (the average length of retirement) will roughly cost (365 days in a year x 20 years =7300 days in retirement. 7300*$20 a day for food= $146,000) $146,000. If that doesn't scare anyone into saving and investing as much as possible now, I'm not quite sure what will.

Food is not the only necessity you will have in retirement. You will need a lot more. But wait there is more. The $146,000 dollars that is the estimated cost for food in retirement isn't adjusted for inflation. Inflation has historically been about 5% a year, so rate that figure up and tears start to pour.

The basic take away is start saving now. There are many programs out there such as IRAs, Roth IRAs, company sponsored 401ks- the list goes on. Many opportunities present themselves to save every day. So when you are pondering the purchase of a fun, new addition to your jet ski collection, think about feeding yourself in a few years. More on types of investing tools such as IRAs, 401ks, Roth IRAs are soon to come, so stay tuned.


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