As I shared yesterday afternoon, although I believe National Save for Retirement Week is important, I find the topic dreadfully dull when stretched out for a week of blog posts. Lesson learned.
Still, I don’t think all retirement discussions have to induce snores or tears. In fact, when you think about it, retirement — especially early retirement — ought to be something to celebrate. When a person has managed to save and make smart choices, they have a chance to opt out of the rat race and pursue the things they really love.
(Note that some people, such as my wife, are fortunate to work at jobs they love in the first place. They’re already doing something they really love.)
Rather than talk more about the numbers or the various types of retirement plans, I thought it would be fun to have a chatty open discussion about our actual plans for the future. Each of us has a [...]

This is a guest post from Robert Brokamp of The Motley Fool. Robert is a Certified Financial Planner and the advisor for The Motley Fool’s Rule Your Retirement service. He contributes one new article to Get Rich Slowly every two weeks.
In recognition of National Save for Retirement Week, let’s take a gander at some numbers:

The average Social Security retirement benefit is $1,159 a month, or $13,908 a year.

According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute (EBRI), approximately a third of the 60-and-over crowd receives a monthly check from a defined-benefit plan, also known as a traditional pension. The average annual benefit is about $18,000.

Put those together, and you come to two conclusions:

If you aren’t covered by a traditional pension and choose not to save for retirement, you’re left with just Social Security and an annual retirement income that is not far from the poverty line ($10,830 for a single American in 2009). Not fun.

If you’re [...]

This article is by GRS staff writer Adam Baker. In addition to his work at Get Rich Slowly, Baker blogs over at Man Vs. Debt, where he compiles the most famous and inspiring quotes on debt. This article is a part of National Save for Retirement Week, and a sort of follow-up to yesterday’s post about the choice between retirement or a down payment.
Whether you should halt your retirement contributions in order to focus debt is one of the most heavily debated dilemmas in personal finance.
Unlike “spend less than you earn” or “track every penny you spend“, there’s no cookie-cutter answer to this question. Variables such as age, career, risk tolerance, and even personality type make each individual situation unique.
You’ll never win a race against high-interest debt
Regardless of your personal situation, there are very few circumstances where high-interest debt should not be the top priority. What’s high interest? Well, that’s another fun question to debate. For the purpose of [...]

This post is from GRS staff writer April Dykman. It’s also a part of National Save for Retirement Week
A few weeks ago, J.D. asked me to consider writing a post on retirement for National Save for Retirement Week. As it was intended, National Save for Retirement Week made me reflect on the state of my and my husband’s retirement accounts.
Currently, our retirement savings are a tad pitiful. I have a 403(b) through my employer, who contributes to my account whether or not I do. After five years of employment, I’ll be eligible for a match. I also have a Roth IRA, though I stopped automatic contributions when we buckled down to pay off the credit cards and the auto loan. My husband doesn’t have a Roth IRA or 401(k), as it’s not offered through his employer.
Retirement is important to us, but we decided to defer significant saving for retirement until we were out of debt and [...]

It’s National Save for Retirement Week!
All week, Get Rich Slowly will feature articles about retirement planning. This morning, I wrote about how important it is to pay yourself first. April and Adam will share their thoughts on the subject in the days ahead.
On today’s episode of The Personal Finance Hour, I joined my co-host Jim from Bargaineering to discuss saving for retirement. We spoke with Jeremy from Gen X Finance. Jeremy is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and the author of About.com’s financial planning section.
Jeremy addressed some specific situations, but he also talked about general principles. He said the biggest mistake that people make is not saving enough. At the bare minimum, he recommends saving enough to get the company match for your 401(k) (if you have one).
Jeremy noted that there’s no golden rule for how much you should save. It depends on what you plan to do when you retire. If you [...]

This article is the fourth of a thirteen-part series that explores the core tenets of Get Rich Slowly. It’s also a part of National Save for Retirement Week.
One of the oldest rules of personal finance is the simple admonition to pay yourself first. All the money books tell you to do it. All the personal finance blogs say it, too. Even your parents have given you the same advice.
But it’s hard. That money could be used someplace else. You could pay the phone bill, could pay down debt, could buy a new DVD player. You’ve tried once or twice in the past, but it’s so easy to forget. You don’t keep a budget, so when payday rolls around, the money just finds its way elsewhere.
And besides: What does “pay yourself first” even mean?
To pay yourself first means simply this: Before you pay your bills, before you buy groceries, before you do anything else, set [...]