[0:00] there's a lot of differ advice out there
[0:01] when it comes to saving up for
[0:03] retirement and for young people it can
[0:05] get really confusing really fast in some
[0:07] cases according to a Fidelity study on
[0:09] average Americans have saved only 78% of
[0:12] the amount that they'll need in
[0:14] retirement so how do you get started
[0:16] let's go to square one here joining me
[0:18] now is Tiffany alishe who is the is's
[0:21] known as the budget n as well we should
[0:22] also mention she's a personal finance
[0:25] education educator and author you see
[0:27] the book there on the screen new book
[0:29] made the Practical guide to reaching
[0:32] your financial goals Tiffany great to
[0:33] have you here in studio with us be here
[0:35] Brad our friend Ross Mack actually
[0:36] that's my friend too just so you our
[0:38] Collective friend Ross Mack advises
[0:40] against maxing out your 401K and you
[0:43] seem to agree to some extent here so
[0:44] what are the levers that people can pull
[0:47] prior to maxing out that 401k before
[0:50] thinking about maxing out your 401K
[0:51] because it might not be realistic
[0:54] $23,000 is the the max for 2024 okay so
[0:57] a lot of people don't have that the
[0:58] average American is making less than
[1:00] $60,000 a year right so you want to ask
[1:03] yourself one do you have proper health
[1:05] insurance maybe you want to save for a
[1:07] down payment on a home maybe you have
[1:09] high credit card debt that you want to
[1:11] focus on do you have life insurance if
[1:13] you have a family there are other things
[1:14] plus the 401K is not the end all Beall
[1:17] when it comes to retirement accounts
[1:18] with tax advantages there's also a WTH
[1:20] Ira have you considered that so consider
[1:23] those things before Max maxing out but
[1:25] what you want to do Brad for sure is
[1:26] whatever whatever your company matches
[1:29] make sure you at least get that match
[1:30] that's the free money that's owed to you
[1:32] okay get that match and that's the
[1:34] second time that we've heard that in
[1:35] today's show you know when you think
[1:36] about beginning retirement planning for
[1:39] some who are just entering into the
[1:41] full-time Workforce in their 20s that
[1:44] conversation starts then so how can
[1:46] people that are even in their 20s start
[1:48] to begin their retirement plan
[1:49] especially in your 20s because time is
[1:51] on your side isn't that how the song
[1:53] goes right so one you want to start now
[1:56] it doesn't matter how small the amount
[1:59] start now and when you're 20s I want you
[2:01] to create the Habit that the more you
[2:03] make the more you start to set aside so
[2:05] every time you get a raise and increase
[2:07] to your income you're going to set aside
[2:09] more in your 20s it's also a good time
[2:11] to practice asking for advice if you
[2:13] have a traditional 401K at your at your
[2:15] job they almost always come with a
[2:17] financial advisor attached call them
[2:19] reach out to them and leave your money
[2:21] alone don't touch it because if you
[2:23] allow it compound interest is really
[2:25] going to set you up for retirement
[2:26] what's the one thing that you wish you
[2:28] could tell your 20-year-old self about
[2:30] retirement if you could go back and do
[2:31] things differently well honestly I would
[2:33] have told her that like one when I first
[2:35] started I didn't realize I actually had
[2:37] to choose my account that I had my money
[2:39] sitting in a money market account for
[2:40] longer than I knew because you know the
[2:43] money you say yes take out this much
[2:44] money a month for my check I didn't know
[2:46] like past that girl you have to make a
[2:49] decision where it's going to go so it
[2:50] was there for a couple of years before I
[2:52] actually chose my accounts and I lost
[2:54] out on that earnings so that's what I
[2:55] would tell her like to not just start
[2:57] now educate yourself see it through ask
[2:59] ask questions we me we we mentioned from
[3:02] the study from Fidelity how many people
[3:04] do not have enough set aside for
[3:06] retirement what can people do if they
[3:08] don't have enough or make enough to set
[3:10] aside for retirement right now and
[3:12] honestly that's going to be so many
[3:13] people so one whatever you can set aside
[3:16] set it aside you're also going to want
[3:18] to really look about increasing your
[3:19] income can you we hate to hear the word
[3:21] side Hustle but what other things can
[3:23] you do to make more money can you budget
[3:25] a little better maybe there's some
[3:27] expenses you can get rid of so you can
[3:28] put more money toward retirement also
[3:31] consider that retirement might look like
[3:32] working for you you might have to work
[3:34] part-time to supplement your retirement
[3:36] income and also don't give up like it
[3:39] can feel really overwhelming but
[3:40] retirement can be still a pleasurable
[3:43] experience if you start to do something
[3:45] now okay and just once you finally set
[3:48] that that up for yourself and you say
[3:50] hey I'm ready to retire what are the
[3:52] pitfalls that you need to avoid once
[3:53] you've retired so that you can
[3:56] responsibly tap into the budget that
[3:57] you've created for yourself so once You'
[3:59] retired I want you to make sure that
[4:00] you're really looking at your healthare
[4:02] expenses it's one of the main expenses
[4:03] that are going to go up once you're
[4:05] retired and so like now might not be the
[4:07] time I get it that we all want to throw
[4:09] money away at our private island but you
[4:10] might want to make sure that you have
[4:12] enough Healthcare expenses to cover
[4:14] whatever that's going to look like also
[4:15] too like mapping out what life looks
[4:18] like we're living longer and longer and
[4:19] longer how much do you actually need can
[4:21] you reduce some expenses now is a great
[4:23] time to say do we need this big old
[4:24] house maybe there's something smaller
[4:26] maybe we can sell this house and put
[4:28] that money toward retirement as well and
[4:30] enjoy you know you work so hard enjoy
[4:33] enjoy enjoy