National Save for Retirement Week-Oct 21-27, 2012

National Save for Retirement Week is a national effort to raise public awareness about the importance of saving for retirement. National Save for Retirement Week is held every year during the third week of October, and this year it will be held from Oct 21-27.  This is an opportunity to reflect on personal retirement goals and to determine if these goals are on target.

A nationwide poll taken earlier this year found that most workers are failing to save as much as they could for retirement.  The survey, conducted in March 2012 by BlackRock, Inc., found that nearly six of 10 workers (58 percent) currently are not saving the maximum amount of money permitted by their 401(k) plan.

So when and how do you save for retirement?   Here are some suggestions:

1. Start—much of the retirement advice reminds us to start as early as possible, but it’s never too late to start.  Even employees in their 40s and 50s have options to maximize their retirement savings opportunities.  Of course the earlier you start saving, the more time you have to build wealth, but you can still make retirement a priority no matter what your age. 
2. Develop a plan—having a retirement plan helps you determine how much money you need for retirement, set retirement goals, and identify strategies to reach these goals.  There are online resources and calculators available as well as print resources in the library. 
3. Stay committed—whether you have 40 years or 40 months before retirement, you need to stay focused and committed to your goals.  It’s easy to start but it’s more difficult, especially in these tough economic times, to stick with a planned strategy.  

The Lillie M. Evans Library can help you start and reach your retirement goals.  In addition to saving you money by providing books and videos on retirement advice, we have compiled a list of online resources to help you get started:

Materials available in the Lillie M. Evans Library
http://bit.ly/SZiaL5

Retirement publications from the United States Department of Labor http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications

U.S. Social Security Administration’s Retirement Planner
http://www.ssa.gov/retire2/

Webinars and resources from the National Save for Retirement Week
http://www.icmarc.org/retirement-week.html

Savings Matters from the Employee Benefits Security Administration http://www.savingmatters.dol.gov/

So join us in celebrating National Save for Retirement Week by starting or reviewing your retirement planning.