It can be difficult to establish a hierarchy of savings. What should come first when you are paying yourself? Three basic areas represent parts of your life that need financial attention; your retirement fund, your money set aside for emergencies, and debt repayment. The last one doesn’t sound like you are paying yourself--at first. But debt management is an important part of establishing financial freedom. Emergency Fund: A Savings Account You … [Read more...]
Have You Started Saving For Retirement?
I think it’s time we have a serious chat about retirement, more specifically saving for retirement. Now, I’m not that old (though I refuse to tell you how old because a true lady never reveals her age #ThanksGrandma) so saving for my retirement is not something that I spend a lot of time thinking about. Which, if you think about it is a little ridiculous considering that when I'm ready to start thinking about it, it will probably be too late. It … [Read more...]
Retirement is the word of the day
As many people know, the big issue with government employment right now is the high number of people who are nearing retirement age. Which should be great for youngsters like me, just getting into government service. Lots of room for growth. And for the most part, that is true, though a lot of the potential retirees have decided to hang on for a few more years thanks to the state of the economy and the shrinking of their retirement accounts. … [Read more...]
Saving For Later
I am officially impressed by J. Money. One of his goals each year is to max out his 401(k) and for varying reasons which he describes, this meant that he had 90% of his last paycheck taken out. 90%! That seems like crazy talk. But I'm definitely impressed. Nice work, J. After much pondering, I recently upped my retirement contributions. I had been contributing 5%, plus the max to my Roth IRA. I upped to a whopping 7%. Clearly, nowhere … [Read more...]
Checking out my retirement accounts
Since receiving my raise, I've been pondering increasing my contributions into my TSP. I was chatting with a co-worker about this, and she commented that she puts in the max. I'm impressed, but I'm not sure that's the plan for me. Right now, I want to keep setting aside money for a house, though I do put in 5% (enough to get the full match). I'm considering putting in up to another 5%, but haven't made a final decision yet. I'm not sure … [Read more...]