Have you wondered why you need to plan for retirement at all? I mean, there is social security, and how long are you likely to live, anyhow? Won't you have time to save when you're older, anyway?
These are a few of the common things people think when saving for your future comes up. The truth of these questions is a hard pill to swallow. Yes there is social security, now, but can you count on it in the future? That's unclear. And if you can, it's still not going to be enough to live on alone and really do much with. How long are you likely to live? Well, people are actually living a lot longer these days, and being eighty years old and working is not usually the dream for how you want to spend the rest of your life. Won't you have time to save when you're older? Recent surveys have said that fifty three percent of American households have less than $25,000 in retirement savings. The average household is lead by a forty three year old, and they have less than $18,000 saved. If when you're forty three years old you hope to retire at sixty, you'll be needing a LOT more in savings than this.
If you don't plan for your retirement no one else is going to do it for you. Pension plans are no longer common and have been replaced by 401ks which allow you to do it for yourself (with many saving incentives). Social security should help, but you won't want to count on this alone. If you don't want to become a burden to your children/family, you need to build a plan for your retirement.
Of course, with mortgage payments, car payments, kids, student loans (and the list goes on) how are you supposed to pay for it all AND afford to put aside savings for retirement? There are things like 401k accounts (set up through your employer) or IRAs where your contributions will be invested in various ways (stocks, bonds, etc) and your savings will earn returns each year, giving you more money for your savings goals. 401ks also have the unique benefit of contribution matches from your employer to help you succeed. There is a wide variety of options out there for you to choose from for saving, so there's no excuse to not take advantage of some of them and get on your way to your retirement goals.
