At times, managing money for retirement seems so obscure. Retirement seems to be located in a land far far away in a distance world that isn’t linked to my daily practice of living in the moment. It is a challenge, yet financially essential, to plan for the future while also embracing your “self” and being still in the moment. Women who are empowered enough to create a balance in their lives today will have a very different retirement experience than women in the past. With the right mentality, women create their own retirement realities.
Your personal finances will obviously impact your retirement experiences and attitudes on aging. According to a study conducted by the National Center on Women and Aging, women over the age of 50 had the following lessons learned to share with younger women:
- Start early, save
- Avoid credit cards
- Create a budget and stick to it
- Live within your means
Here are a few more steps that you can take in the moment that will support your life’s passion during retirement…..
- Place Your Savings Into Autopilot. The easiest way to do this is to schedule regular automatic withdraws from your bank account that get directly invested into a mutual fund.
- Be Accountable For How You Spend Your Money. Use some sort of tracking system (quicken, spreadsheets, etc) to track where your money is going. This will allow you to make adjustments and place more into your retirement savings.
- Learn How To Read Your Investment Statements. If you are going to take the time to invest, take a few more minutes to monitor your earnings (or losses) to be able to make educated decisions about your financial future. If your statements (paper based or online) look more like a recipe for a quantum physics equation, contact your investing company and master your monthly statements.
Great information! Thanks for writing this. It is an honor to participate in the discussion.