Filed under: Retirement
How do you determine how much you need to save for retirement? Is $1 million enough? And how do you save for retirement without drastically changing your lifestyle?These are just some of the key questions that MoneyTips.com CEO Marc Diana and I asked 25 of the top voices in personal finance and wealth during last month's #RetireeNextDoorsocial jam. During our one-hour virtual discussion, Twitter (TWTR) participants generated 18.7 million impressions and reached more than 4.4 million unique users, according to analytics platform Nuvi.com. More importantly, the advice from the nearly 1,500 Tweets served as a virtual playbook for anyone looking to dramatically improve their chances of one day retiring in style.
MoneyTips has compiled the best of the session in the free eBook: #RetireeNextDoor Retweetables: 100 Best Retirement Tweets. I've highlighted several of the most thought-provoking responses and the best guidance from some of the smartest minds in finance (often ending with the hashtag #RetireeNextDoor:
What is the hardest part about planning for retirement? One in three baby boomers has no retirement plan, according to a 2014 financial wellness study by Moneytips.com. So, it should come as no surprise that the community's response was the emphatic advice, "Get started!"
- Scott Maderer @FocusdIntensity: Getting started. Inertia takes over it is easier to do NOTHING than something.
- Donna Freedman @DLFreedman: Having to do it while you're also living a NON-retired life. Can be hard to pare away funds.
- Charles Rotblut @CharlesRAAII: Hardest part of planning for retirement is the uncertainty of lifespan, inflation and future returns.
- Kimberly Palmer @alphaconsumer: It's hard to deny yourself things today in order to benefit the far-off future.
- Emily Guy Birken @EmilyGuyBirken: Staying focused. There are so many valid uses for our money. It can be very tough to prioritize retirement.
That discussion led to the question, "How do you determine how much you need to save for retirement? Is $1 million enough?"
- Tiff TheBudgetnista @TheBudgetnista: My Financial Advisor James, gave me a simple #retirement formula: 1 million is about 50k year in retirement.
- Tiff TheBudgetnista: It helped me determine that I need 5 million to have 250k in passive income when I retire.
- Joe Saul-Sehy @AverageJoeMoney: Start backward: what do you want, how much do you have, then find return you need to grab it.
- Michael Kay @FinLifeFocus: You need a plan that covers your fixed costs and then anticipates the variables-travel, hobbies, medical.
- Linda P. Jones @LindaPJones: Determine what your lifestyle will be. Do you plan to downsize your home? Be a snowbird? Establish priorities.
- Doug Nordman @TheMilitaryGuid: Forecast your retirement spending, and save 25x that amount. Adjust when you're within 5 yrs.
- @theRealKiyosaki: In order to know how large of a savings 'nest-egg' you'll need, you'll need to know 2 things:
- @theRealKiyosaki: How long will you live? & How much will inflation increase?
- @theRealKiyosaki: These answers are impossible to know. You are gambling with your future.
When it came time to sharing the best advice (received or given) about retirement planning, the entire community jumped at the opportunity to spread their expertise:
- Miranda Marquit @MMarquit: Start now. No matter how little you have to set aside, set aside something. It's all about starting the habit.
- Cathy Curtis @cathycurtis: Start planning for retirement when you start working, save max to all possible retirement savings options.
- Elle Martinez @Elle_CM: Automate your contributions, however much you can start off with & increase it with every raise/bump in pay.
- Kimberly Palmer @alphaconsumer: Retirement mistake: ignoring the fact that we all have DIY retirements now- gotta take charge!
- Leisa Peterson @leislooski: Not paying attention to what you have invested in and how it is doing over time.
- April Rudin @TheRudinGroup: "Stopping work." For some us the idea of that is unthinkable. Interferes with retirement planning.
- LaTisha Styles @YoungFinances: Expecting Social Security to make up a chunk of retirement. Think of it more as a tip instead of a payment.
- Joe Saul-Sehy @AverageJoeMoney: Best advice = tax triangle. Save money pretax (401k), some tax free (Roth), some flexible (brokerage/real estate).
- LaTisha Styles @YoungFinances: Ignoring the 'free money' from an employer 401k. It's an immediate return! #nobrainer.
- Richard Eisenberg @richeis315: Live beneath your means and let someone else keep up with Joneses.
- Leisa Peterson @leislooski: Treat your budget like a diagnostic tool not a weapon that inflicts pain to see where you can save more & spend less .
- Kate Holmes, certified financial planner @the_kate_holmes: Review your expenses and ask how much happiness each line item brings. You may be surprised by unnecessary spending.
- Emily Guy Birken @EmilyGuyBirken: Millennials! Set up automatic contribution right this minute! You'll forget abt the $, but it will compound 4 u.
- Carolyn McClanahan @CarolynMcC: Learn about passive investing early. Too many waste time on trying to pick the next winner.
- Roger Whitney, CFP @Roger_Whitney: Don't just invest in the markets. Start a business. It is easier than ever before.
- Ebong Eka @ebongeka: Save more early, pay off debts & try to acquire skills that can lead to increased money opportunities. #GetYourMoneyUp.
- Winnie Sun @SunGroupWP Learn from those who have walked the walk, tripped, fallen, all that good stuff. Investing, when started early, is fun.