We know it’s something we should be more conscious of and plan for, but many fail to plan for it. They say the best time to plant is tree is yesterday. The same goes for your retirement plan.

The most accurate way to determine how much you would need to live comfortably in retirement is to sit with a financial professional. With that being said, I understand that not everyone has access to one, so a rough calculation to determine how much you would need for your retirement years is approximately 80% of your current income. In your retirement years, your living expenses will typically decrease which is where the 80% comes from.

Once you’re old enough to start working you should be saving and planning for retirement and your future. 2 areas highly overlooked are insurance and savings. The younger you are is the more optimal time to buy life insurance. If you’re young and healthy, rates are much more likely to be low. Switching gears to savings, there’s never a bad time and the earlier the better. Every dollar you put away now can get you closer to your goal. We have all been told by our parents to make sure we save our money. This is one universal advice often ignored, but truthful.

Managing your expenses is vitally important when saving and planning for retirement. That being said, you may have to cut expenditures in your retirement years to stretch your savings or cut expenditures leading up to the retirement years to ensure you’re saving enough. With the advancement of technology, people are living longer and woman typically live longer than men. I share this because you may require much more than what stats may say you need now based on the average life expectancy and retirement age.