I was taught like W. Pay yourself first. When I first started to save for retirement I started off small. Like 4 percent. I was single then and it was hard. But every time I got a raise I would raise the percentage I saved accordingly. I lived by the rule that the money is untouchable. Not only the money saved but the money taken out of each check also. It is like I really dont make that money. If I want to buy a big ticket item I never ever used that income to cover a note. It is not even considered in my reserve for hard times money. It was hard at first to get a big raise and then put a good portion of it to my retirement, but it is now second nature. It it easy to say that you will use 2 percent for a year or so and then go back to saving it. the reality is that you will never get that money back and you probably will never get back to the level you were saving before. Not saying this is the best method but it has worked for me.
|