How Much to Save for a Retirement With Dignity

The rule of thumb for retirement planners when asked how to save for retirement is to suggest that people put aside 20%-30% of their working income for retirement needs. I don't know many people, these days, who can afford that on current salaries when you factor in cost of living and other expenses. If you have a very high income then you can of course afford to put aside more and to actively invest.
So, it may be that when you ask yourself how much to save for retirement that you have to put aside 20-30%, even factoring in supplemental retirement income like social security (government pension plans outside of the US), private or public sector pension plans, other annuity or investment income. You have to also factor in the lilihood that future tax rates may be higher than they are today, so one consideration now is are you using a tax deferred or an up front retirement investment vehicle?
I also would caution readers who are coming to grips with this situation to also diversify their investments between the risky high yield kind to the more conservatiove kind, as well as working precious metals like silver and maybe gold into their portfolio. Precious metals hold and store value for the long haul. Just make sure that you take delivery of the metal and store it securely without fanfare so no one knows you have it.
Another thing that you can do to make sure that you have enough to retire on is increase your income. I know it's pretty impossible to do that with just a regular job, unless you have a high ceiling and know you're going places with it. If that's not the case for you, then strongly consider several possibilities:

• Get a second "moonlighting" job - these are low paying with unfriendly hours.Trading time for money.
• Do part time consulting if you have a skill that is marketable - again you are trading time for money.
• Buy and sell things online - lots of labor and also overhead like inventory storage, postage, etc.
• Get into network marketing of some sort - this has a high potential payoff that can solve your problem completely. The issue is which ones to choose and also you have to stick with it and be consistent and persistent and not give up easily. We are blessed though that there are so many of these out there to choose from. There are traditional and online versions. The internet based ones offer the benefit of working from home and not having to approach family or friends for support.

There may be more, but I believe those cover most of the basics.
So what have we learned today?

• When pondering how much to save for retirement, you have to save a substantial portion of your current income OR make enough extra to offset or exceed this, which gives you more for saving and investing.
• You should diversify what investments that you have in order to minimize risk.
• You should consider the possibility of opening up extra income streams so that how much to save for retirement becomes an academic question because you are covered.

So there you have it. That is this author's take. I believe it's sound advice and well worth consideration. Only YOU can take control of your future needs and make sure that they are met. Do not depend on others or the government because neither will cover your needs, unless you're a member of Congress, or a member of the political governing class, but that's another article altogether.

Tom loves to write on a variety of subjects. He has worked in the software industry for over 18 years, and while technology is his first love, he is fascinated by too many subjects to list. Currently, he has been working his site, Empower Network System, and in that he teaches others how to open up other income streams and answer questions on topics like "get paid to blog", so that they have more money to invest for their future.

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