How Much Should I Really Be Saving for Retirement?

Speaker A00:00:37

Retirement feels so far away until one day it isn't that far away.And if you've ever wondered whether you're saving enough for retirement, you're asking one of the most important financial questions that you'll ever face. So today, let's find an answer that gives you confidence instead of anxiety.Truth is, most people don't know whether they're ahead of the game or behind the game. But but I'm going to tell you right now, you don't have to be perfect to make meaningful progress.So stay with me today and let's build a retirement plan you can actually stick with. Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian.I'm the financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr. And I just want to thank you so much for joining me today. Today's topic is preparing for one of life's biggest financial milestones. And we got a great listener question.The listener asked, am I saving enough? How much should I actually invest? And what if I started later than I wanted to? And I'm going to spill the beans right now.I lived in this same reality until a few years ago because the truth is the numbers do feel big. But every comfortable retiree started with one contribution at a time. And that's what we'll talk about on today's show.Now, if you're facing a financial question or you've got something you want me to answer here on the show, I would love to hear from you. You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question We'll put a link in the show notes, but again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/questionWell, let's get right to today's listener question. Now this one, I had to read the email subject because when I saw this, I said, this is one I've got to cover on the show.And the subject line said this. I feel like I'm already behind on retirement.I'm going to tell you right now, I thought my wife had sent this message in because this is where I was a few years ago. And I'll talk about that a little bit later. But let's get right into today's listener question.Listener writes this Ralph, I'm 42 years old and lately retirement has been on my mind a great deal. Now, when I was younger, I thought I'd have plenty of time to save. But then life happened.Kids, bills, a few financial setbacks, and now I'm realizing I don't have nearly as much saved as I had hoped for. I contribute a little through work, but I honestly have no idea if it's enough.Every article I read gives different percentages and different retirement goals. Some days I feel super motivated. Other days I feel like I've waited too long and there's no catching up.Is there a simple way to know what I should be doing? Thank you for what you do, Ralph. Thank you for sending in that question.And I'm going to tell you right now, this is a question that I hear from people probably ten times a week. And it's one of those things that causes so much anxiety and so much stress. But I want to start off with a big idea here.Retirement isn't built by guessing. It's built by consistency over time. Basically, one day at a time. So let's talk about building a simplified process.I want to encourage you to do first thing first, start with what you control. You can't change what's happened behind you the years that you went past. And I'll tell my story now.For many years, I should have been putting away money for retirement. And it wasn't until about seven years ago that my wife finally said to me, she said, ralph, you got to start thinking serious about this.And for so long I had just said, oh, you know, it'll figure itself out. It'll happen one of these days down the road. But I finally had to come to a point when I realized something.I can't change the years behind me, and you can't change the years behind you, but you can absolutely influence the years ahead of you. So don't waste any time today grieving yesterday. Start the contributions today. Because every contribution from this point matters.And that progress will finally start the moment that you start building that momentum. Because you can't invest yesterday's dollars, but you can faithfully invest today. So here's the first thing I want you to do.Take advantage of employer matching. You got to contribute enough to get the full match whenever possible. That's part of your compensation.I was having a conversation with somebody the other day and I said, it really comes down to this. It's like you're walking down the sidewalk and you look down and you see a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk and you just walk right past it.You just leave it on the ground. Well, that's the same thing. It happens when you ignore what your company is doing is matching.So learn how your company's plan works and make sure you're taking full advantage of at least up to the matching component, because it's not. Basically, you're leaving money on the table because if Someone is willing to help you build your future.Don't leave that gift on the table and say, I don't want it. But another thing you got to think about is that compound growth. Do the heavy lifting. As I mentioned, you're not going to build this retirement.You're not going to get this rich swig overnight. It's all about giving time for the room and the compound interest to work.That consistency that doing it with every paycheck beats those occasional large deposits. So don't obsess about daily market changes.I hear so many people like, oh, the market's doing, feeling terrible right now, but I'm so worried about retirement. Stay focused on the long term. Time often accomplishes what harder trying harder could never accomplish.Now, here's one thing, little takeaway for today. One thing you can definitely do is increase your savings as your income grows.Every time you get a raise, every time you get a bonus, that is a great opportunity to actually build additional momentum to your savings. It's a great time to increase that retirement contributions before the increase in lifestyle.It's so easy when you get those raises or you get that bonus at work to say, well, this is a great time to go on a vacation. This is a great time to expand our lifestyle a little bit.Maybe we build a bit bigger, a bigger house or we buy a nicer car, but that's also a really great opportunity to put more money into your retirement. That small percentage increase becomes significant over the decades. I'm not going to get into the math today, but these numbers get huge.So build that habit gradually. Avoid that lifestyle inflation whenever possible. Because when your income grows, let your future grow with it.But I also want you to think about something else. Don't let fear keep you from starting. Honestly, I get back to my story. That's what it was all about for me. I honestly, I didn't want to get older.I didn't want to think about, yes, I'm actually getting older. And most people delay this because they think they're behind and they just, oh, why bother, Ralph? I read the statistics every day.This is a huge problem throughout the United States and, dare I say, through the world. And when you continue to wait, it only makes catching up even harder to do.And I'd much rather you start imperfectly because that's going to be waiting for perfection. As I talk about on the show all the time, focus on faithful progress, because I'm going to guarantee you something.Your future self is going to say, thank you. The best retirement plan that is in the best place is the one that you actually begin. And you can start that today.Now, I want to get into your question a little deeper. It's easy to believe you've missed your opportunity. So many people think the same way you did. And that's the enemy whispering to you.He's whispering to you. Oh, it's too late. But Scripture reminds us that God is never surprised by our time. We might be surprised by his, but he's not surprised by ours.Here's what faith doesn't promise us. It doesn't promise us that every investment is going to go up every year.There are going to be times when you're, you're going to look at your statement, go, what just happened here? It doesn't promise us you're going to retire exactly when you planned.You might have your plans and God might laugh and say, well, not, not right now, Ralph. And it doesn't promise us that life won't include unexpected setbacks. Those are things that are all part of life, as they say.But here's what fate does promise us. It tells us that God honors faithful stewardship. And even if you got 20 years remaining or 40 years, today's faithful decision still matters.And God values faithfulness. Your stewardship begins today. And hope is always stronger than regret. Every wise decision plants future fruit.And it's never too late in your financial journey to become intentional. So don't measure your future by what you haven't done. Measure it by what you're willing to begin today.Your retirement isn't determined by one perfect decision. It's built through thousands of faithful little ones. So to answer your question, just keep showing up. And here's your win for today. Today's win.I want you to review your current retirement contributions, check your contribution percentage and confirm whether you're receiving your full employer match. Hey, if you're not, you are that person walking over that hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk, penned over and picking up.And then decide if you can increase your contribution by just 1% a year. And put this on your calendar. Check this out. Every six months. At the very least, every 12 months.Because those small increases today can become an enormous blessing tomorrow. Take my word for it, just a little increase today. A little intentionality will pay dividends in the future. Which leads us to today's Bible verse.It comes to us from the book of Galatians 20, chapter 6, verse 9, it says. So let's not get tired of doing what is good. At the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. So friend, don't give up.Retirement planning rewards consistency. Those fatal habits often produce slow, but they produce meaningful results in the long term.So don't ever be discouraged that you're just now starting. Don't be discouraged by gradual process. Keep sowing faithfully and it will work out. How about we pray together right now?Heavenly Father, thank you for caring about every season of our lives. Help us to become faithful stewards of the future you've entrusted to us, Lord. Give us wisdom to prepare well without becoming consumed by worry.Teach us to remain consistent even when progress feels slower, maybe when we should have done it before, Lord, and replace regret that we have with hope, Lord. And replace fear with just faithful action. And may our planning reflect our trust in you and our commitment to wise stewardship.And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen, friend. Retirement planning doesn't require perfection, it just requires consistency. So start where you are.Take advantage of opportunities available to you. Increase your savings over time and and trust God while faith we're preparing for tomorrow. So here's my takeaways for today.Focus on what you can control. Don't worry about what happened in the past. Trust that compound growth, increase that savings as income grows and begin today.Even if you started later than you expected now maybe you're going through a financial season. You could use a little encouragement. Or you have a question. I would love to answer your question and I would actually love to hear your voice.You can leave me a voicemail message by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail we'll put a link in the show notes and all you gotta do is click on it and click record and I'll hear your voice and I'll mention it on the show again. That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail thank you so much for joining me today.I want to encourage you, as I always do, stay financially savvy. May God bless you and you have a great day today.