3 Simple Tips To Make Saving For Retirement Easier

When you're managing day-to-day expenses and balancing multiple financial goals—like chipping away at college loans, paying a mortgage, and investing for your child's education—it can be tough to save money for retirement. But the adage "where there's a will, there's a way" is true.

Here are 3 simple tips to make saving for retirement easier:
Even if retirement is decades away, it's never too early to start saving. In fact, time is valuable to the overall growth of your investments. If you start saving even a small amount when you're a younger investor, you'll have more time to put the power of compounding to work.

Compounding is the gradual accumulation of earnings that happens when you reinvest your gains. So the sooner you begin putting money aside, the more time you'll have for your savings to grow. Whether you choose to save in an IRA, in a traditional savings account, or through an employer-sponsored plan—such as a 401(k)—it pays to get started any way you can.

To help put some muscle behind the power of compounding, you'll want to add to your savings regularly. A convenient and disciplined way to do this is to set up an automatic investing plan. If you have an employer-sponsored retirement plan, take advantage of the opportunity to make regular contributions through payroll deduction. And check to see if your plan offers an option to automatically increase your contribution percentage each year.

If you're not saving through a plan at work, you can set up an automatic investment plan that lets you schedule regular money transfers from your bank account to an investment account on a consistent basis.

Remember, even a modest amount of money invested consistently can make a big difference over time. And if you make your savings automatic, you may not even notice the impact on your bank account or take-home pay. What you will notice is that every dollar you save is helping to build your retirement nest egg.

While it's important to be balanced and diversified, you don't need a complex portfolio with dozens of stocks and bonds to invest successfully for retirement.

If you want to keep it simple, consider an all-in-one fund. Each of these broadly diversified funds has an asset mix that may be appropriate for someone planning to retire in the target year. Over time, each fund gradually invests more conservatively as its target year approaches.

With these three simple tips—starting early, saving consistently, and keeping it simple—you'll be well on your way to achieving your retirement savings goals.

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