Data shows that most Americans are ill-prepared for retirement. Bankrate reported that 56% of Americans feel behind on saving for their retirement years. So instead of dreaming of their retirement plans, many are left wondering if they’ll be able to retire at all. The idea of a cushy retirement has become more of a pipe dream than a real possibility for most Americans.
On today’s show, we’re going to dive into some of the latest data on the retirement crisis in the United States. We’ll discuss the state of 401k balances, Social Security, and more. Most importantly, you’re going to learn why saving for retirement is impossible, and what to do instead.
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In the survey, Bankrate asked respondents how much money they would need to retire comfortably. A majority plainly answered that they don’t know.
10% of respondents answered with $150,000 or less. And when you compare that with the average 401k balance of $112,000 – it’s clear that something is amiss. There’s a huge mismatch between what’s needed for a comfortable retirement, and what people are actually able to save.
Here’s why: saving isn’t the answer. You can’t save your way to wealth. Especially in this inflationary time. There’s no real education around finances in the US, so a lot of folks just don’t know any better. Most people are blindly investing in a 401k, without understanding much about how the account works or what its potential is.
And the big issue at hand is that most people don’t even know what they need to retire. They don’t know their numbers, and this is why they get tricked into utilizing accounts that aren’t making them wealthy. The root of this issue is the incredible lack of financial education. This is information you’re not going to learn in school. The media and even these retirement companies might report on how dire the outlook is – but they don’t offer realistic solutions.
Instead, a better strategy is to build wealth through the power of performing assets. So instead of hoping your pile of cash lasts you through your retirement years, you can create streams of cash flow that pay you every single month.
Building wealth through performing assets can provide you with passive income, both now, and into your retirement years. Think about how powerful this is: money comes into your account every single month. This is so much more sustainable than a one-time balance sitting in a savings account or 401k. And that’s an important distinction: building wealth vs. saving for wealth.
You have to remember that when you have money sitting in those accounts like a 401k, it’s likely growing at a very slow rate. And depending on what types of accounts you’re using to save, you could even be losing money due to inflation or dips in the market. And the worst part is, you have no control over it!
That’s why building wealth is a more productive solution. The word building itself implies activity; it means you’re an active participant in your growth. Once you learn to take control over your money and your retirement, you’ll realize how broken and outdated our society’s viewpoint on retirement is.
At Morris Invest, we can help you devise a plan that’s built with the mission of buying rental real estate to create wealth. We can help you come up with an individualized plan. We can even help you find ways to buy real estate inside of retirement accounts, if that’s something you’re interested in.
No matter how you choose to plan for retirement, I hope you remember that you can’t save your way to wealth – and specifically that saving for retirement is impossible.
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