Cha-Ching! An Easy Way To save A Million Dollars

In today’s tough economy, it’s easy to lose hope and get disillusioned about the future.  When I was growing up, ambitious guys and gals used to talk about being millionaires by the age of thirty.  It is a common dream, but when the demands of life set in, the dream of having a million dollars dissolves to a distant memory.

Having a million dollars for retirement is however a reasonable reachable goal.  All it requires is some planning and some discipline.

A practical way to save a million dollars for retirement is by contributing to your 401 k, assuming that it will take 30 yrs of working full time to achieve this goal and a rate of return of 8%, if you put aside 680$ a month, every month for 30 years, you will have a million dollars for your retirement.  So if you start contributing at 30 or 35 and God willing nothing drastic happens like illnesses or long periods of unemployment or just dipping into those 401 k funds, it is reasonable to say you can be a millionaire if you want to and work towards it.  An easy way to make sure you are contributing to your 401 k is to automate it, set it up where the funds are contributed to your 401 k before you get your paycheck so if you are paid  twice a month, set up your contribution where they deduct a specific amount as opposed to a percentage i.e 340$ from  every pay check you earn goes to paying yourself first.

Granted, the market does not give returns of  8% every year, some years are double digit returns great and some years are downright ugly, but on average over a period of 30 years, a return of 8% is highly probable.

There are some costs associated with investing, like adviser fees, the declines in the market, the costs to buy and sell securities, however if your company matches, then the match should smooth out these costs and bumps.

Is a one million dollar retirement possible?  Absolutely.  The key is the habit of paying yourself first every month, automate the process so that it’s easy, and best of luck!

Happy Investing!  Comment below, I’d like to know what you think!


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