I used to think that before I could save for retirement, I had to pay off all my debt. Though paying down debt definitely frees up money which helps you save more, it’s not a black and white area where you can only do one or the other. Instead, retirement savings should be a priority with paying off debt close behind.
I’m the first to admit that I’ve gotten off to a rocky and late start with retirement planning. The only thing in my corner, so to speak, is a pension plan that I have automatically contributed to for the past 13 years. However, the more I think about working for another 24 years, the more I think, can I retire before 65?
For months I have been doing a complete audit of my bills to see where I can save money. I started by making a list of EVERY SINGLE recurring bill that I have and then started slowly going down the list. With each item I asked myself “Is there any way I can save money with this bill?”.
I read a story on the NBCNews.com website of a 123-year-old man living in Bolivia. Of course, this got me thinking, “What if I live 40+ years past the age of retirement? Could my funds stretch that far?”