3 hilarious but terrible retirement tips

1. You’re too young—er—old to save for retirement

“I was once told I’m too young for a retirement account,” Eleanor S. said. Nicholas S. received similar advice and was told to enjoy his money while he’s young, before life gets too serious. “I get it,” Nicholas said. “I’m 26, and it’s not cool to be budgeting and planning for my retirement already"  Or there is still plenty of time you can worry about retirement later.  For many "later" never come.

Actually, an early start is key to building up enough savings for a comfortable retirement. The sooner you start, the more compound interest works in your favor. Putting off retirement savings by just a few years can make a million-dollar difference in your nest egg!

On the flip side of the age coin, you’ll find folks who say they’ve missed the retirement savings boat. “It’s too late to start saving for retirement,” someone once told Becky M. At the time, that person planned to work just 15 more years, but that’s not how things turned out. “Twenty years later, they are still working because they didn’t save,” Becky told us.

It’s never too late to start saving for retirement. A focused plan can make a big difference in your retirement outlook in just a few years.

2. Stay safe at all costs

You’ve probably got plenty of well-meaning relatives who just want to you to play it safe in everything from the way you drive to the way you save for retirement. For example, Amy A. was told, “The best way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.”

Elisha R.’s grandmother-in-law told her to bury her retirement fund “in $100 bills under the roses.”

“The stock market is basically gambling,” Sandi S. was told. “It will go up, but when it comes down, you lose everything.”

Advice like this comes from a fear of risk. While we’re the first to tell you to spend wisely and save up for emergencies, conservative mutual fund investing with a long-term outlook is still the most effective way to save for retirement. It’s not without risk, but neither is burying your money in the ground. Just a couple of years later, those $100 bills will be worth less than they were the day you planted them underneath the roses.

3. Don’t worry—someone else will take care of you when you retire

Chris C. was told not to bother saving for retirement. “Why even plan for it? The government will take care of you,” was the advice he received.

“Your mom’s rich,” someone pointed out to Emily V. “Just wait until she croaks. Problem solved!”

Or, how about, “Have a bunch of kids so they will take care of you,” as Steve W. was advised.

Don’t leave your retirement up to someone else. The fact is, your retirement is no one else’s responsibility—not the government’s, not your parents’ and not your kids’. “[I’m] working the Baby Steps with my husband, knowing that the only security we will have in life is the security that we provide for ourselves,” Emily said.

That is advice you can follow!

How about some retirement advice you can use?

Clearly, bad advice is easy to get. Well-meaning friends and relatives will dish it out right along with the mashed potatoes and gravy.

But an experienced investing professional will give you retirement investing advice you can actually use. 

Whether you’re just starting to invest for retirement or you’ve been at it for years, a pro will help you build a fine-tuned retirement plan that takes into account how long you have to save.

And, it’s your investing advisor’s job to help you choose great mutual funds and teach you how the stock market’s ups and downs work together to build your nest egg. You’ll end up with a retirement plan that you can count on to provide for you when you reach your golden years. There is alway the investment in Real Estate Property as another option which most Kiwis lean to. But at the very least if it all sounds just too hard, begin with a KiwisSaver account.