Wealth Accumulation

You must accumulate wealth.

More than 30% of people working today report they have not saved AT ALL for retirement.  Never mind not saving enough, nearly a third of workers haven’t started saving at all!  And lest you think the other 70% are in good shape, 60% of all workers report they are currently not saving for retirement. The most telling statistic is that more than half of workers report they have no idea how much money they need to save for retirement AND have never tried to figure it out.  

The problem seems to be that today’s workers are just sticking their heads in the sand when it comes to retirement.  They have to know they need to save, just like everyone today has to know that cigarettes are really bad for you, but they are just choosing not to accept that reality.  At least smokers have a physical addiction to deal with.  

Workers today absolutely have to change their attitudes toward the future.  Hoping it all somehow works out isn’t much of a plan.  The truth is that most workers who make a reasonable amount of money can actually allocate some money toward a retirement plan, adjust their income tax withholdings to reflect the plan contributions, and have their take home pay stay the same!  Why wouldn’t they do this?  EVERYONE with a W2 wage should be saving for retirement habitually from every paycheck.  Even if it’s just tens of dollars each check, it’s better than nothing.

This is a little more complicated for small business owners who don’t have predictable pay, but the good news for small business owners is they have a whole host of retirement and financial planning options available to them that are not available to salaried employees and they have much greater opportunity to tailor a retirement plan for the business that suits their needs.  We work with a number of small business owner clients who take advantage of things like Self Employed Pensions and SIMPLE IRAs to help fund retirement and reduce their tax burden.

Today’s workers simply must understand the importance of saving for retirement.  They must also understand that it is NEVER too late to start saving.  We have many successful retiree clients who didn’t get serious about saving for retirement until they were in their 50s.  That isn’t ideal, but it’s a lot better than nothing.  And if you save aggressively and can get some wind at your back in the stock market, you can create a reasonable nest egg in a relatively short amount of time.

Wealth accumulation isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about discipline and forming good financial habits. Regular savings, invested wisely, will grow your wealth and give you something to rely on in retirement. It doesn’t have to be complicated or painful. It just has to be done. We can help.