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National Retirement Savings Week

Published  October 21, 2015 11:08am EDT
News
FOX 5 Atlanta

Atlanta - Still putting off thinking about saving for retirement? Well, today is the day to do something. It's National Retirement Savings Week. And this is as good a time as any to get started.

You eventually have to jump in and do it, but this week start by taking one baby step toward retirement savings. I just sat down with a VP at Morgan Stanley who helps people manage their money. He says that America is in a retirement planning crisis. Fifty percent of us are not prepared which means we don't have any money saved for that time when we can no longer work.  For too many people retirement will mean working if you can find a job.

"Unfortunately, in our society today, one of the fastest growing job categories are the individuals who are plus 60, 65 years old and still need working income in retirement," said Jesse Walton Jr., Morgan Stanley VP of Wealth Management.

Do you want to work in retirement? Probably not. So let's start doing one thing today to get started toward savings. Get a an envelope and throw every single receipt for a month in there. Find out how much you spend and where you're spending it.

Here's where it goes for many people. Eating out. We all do it from time to time, some more than others. But this is the real cost. Let's say you spend $10 a day on lunch and so does your spouse. In a month that's almost $600.  Now, try packing a meal one day a week.  Jesse Walton Jr. said when this gets comfortable then add on another day until it's a new habit.

"And a lot of times the retirement savings is hiding in how much you eat out where you can actually cut out eating out two or three times a month and put that money aside for retirement."

So this National Retirement Savings Week don't beat yourself up that you haven't started. Try something this week that moves you in that direction - dump a credit card, get that budget started or re-think your cable subscription.

Did you know that if you drop your thermostat one degree that you can save from one to three percent on your energy bill? Try it.