How to Start Your Own Retirement Savings Plan
Your future financial security is dependent on having a retirement savings plan. Where to put the money is not the issue. The choices of where to put the retirement savings are endless. How to actually create the funds to put there is the question. Here's how to start one on your own, RIGHT NOW!
The old saying, Pay Yourself First, is some of the best money management advice you will ever get. If you don't pay you, who will? How do you manage that? Here's how.
From every dollar that comes in the door, take 10% off the top and put it in an account that you have designated for your retirement savings plan. This is more than likely a scary idea for those with debt and past due bills to pay. My advice? JUST DO IT! You will find that you CAN operate on 90% of the income if you decide you are going to. As time passes, you'll find you have adjusted to operating on less money.
The biggest benefit of this self imposed retirement savings plan is the peace of mind you'll have just knowing the money is there and that you are building your own financial security. You won't spend so much time and attention worrying about money. You will actually start sleeping better at night just knowing the cash is there.
Do you think the whole 10% is too steep a step to start with? Take a look at your cash flow from a different point of view. Review all of the suppliers you pay out of your herd earned money every month and get the idea that those vendors are all on your personal payroll. Is there anyone you can terminate and operate without? Is there anyone you can cut back from full time to part time status? Just look at the bills that come in every month, and/or those automatic deductions from your bank accounts and you'll see exactly who is on your 'payroll'.
Here is an example. I was working with the owner of a company who was having a hard time cutting company expenses by 10% to fund his retirement savings plan. We looked at each expense from the viewpoint that the vendor was on his 'payroll.'
Right away we were making a game of firing suppliers like the extra $9.95 per month third-party fraud protection on each of his credit cards. We cancelled the expiring contract on some advertising that wasn't bringing in much new business and found a less expensive alternative and saved $280 a month. We consolidated part of his debt to a low interest loan and saved over $300 in monthly finance charges. We sold a lease-purchase piece of equipment he didn't need and paid off the note. That gained him $239 a month. We even switched banks and hired a new one with no monthly account charges and got the old bank off his payroll to the tune of $25 a month. Now he has a nice pension fund building up each month.
Why is it vital for you to have enough control over the flow of money? It is the energy and life blood of a business. It is necessary to channel it through the income producing areas first to keep it running smoothly. Everything runs much more smoothly when plenty ofcash is available. And that includes you, the company owner. The Money Management Solutions software guides you towards making the best possible decisions about how to use your income to increase your income and bottom line.
Just by changing your viewpoint about how you use your business' income, you can make a fun game of building your retirement savings plan. Be the Donald Trump of your own business empire. Take a really close look at who you are paying out of your hard earned cash flow. Don't be reluctant to say 'You're Fired!' and pay yourself 10% first by putting that money away in your own retirement savings plan.
Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals and families manage their money to eliminate debt. To find out about the Money Management Software she created, watch the FREE 5-minute demo video on her website at www.moneymgmtsolutions.com
Published December 24th, 2007
Filed in Business, Finance, Home Business