Thank you so much to Ramsey Solutions for allowing me to review Retire Inspired! I think you’ll be inspired by this amazing book as well!
Retirement planning. Yeah, I know. I hate it too.
I’ll be turning 30 soon and even though I have a Roth IRA account, I’m totally lost when it comes to planning for my retirement. I mean, I know that I should contribute something to it and I know that I don’t contribute nearly enough.
I always hear all these stories of folks that retire early as millionaires because they started growing their investments when they were 18 years old. It’s enough to make anyone feel way behind in the game if you haven’t been actively planning for retirement.
My mama will be retiring soon so this has definitely been a topic of discussion in our home. Truthfully, my mama could have retired years ago but she’s chosen to continue working for a few more years so she can get the max benefits allowed to her from the county government she works for.
Now here’s why this has been an important topic for us – too many of our family members that have once retired had to end up going back out into the workforce. Why? Because they didn’t plan well enough.
You see, some people think that $250,000 at age 65 is enough money to retire on and for some it may well be, but honestly for most it won’t be enough.
Here’s why – too many people enter retirement still in debt and still not able to manage their money. Throw on top of that too little insurance (health, long-term care, life insurance, etc.) and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. (For more on what insurances you may need, read this post and use it as a guide to help you determine.)
Okay, so how does this affect me? I mean, I’m nowhere near retiring so why am I worried about this stuff? Here’s the truth, two years ago my husband and I made what many refer to as a dumb financial move and yes, it wasn’t really smart on the long-term scale of things, but we have no regrets. We cashed out my 401(k) from my old corporate job (for more on that story, visit this post here).
Of course, I’ve been contributing to my Roth IRA ever since but my contributions are way low, not to mention that I simply had just a Roth IRA account – one that wasn’t invested in the stock market so the rate of return on my contributions has been super low.
Reason being is that the stock market FREAKS ME OUT. Seriously, it scares me half to death because I honestly don’t understand it and guess what – I went to school and learned about this stuff and I still don’t really get it.
However, that’s no excuse for not doing more research and making myself understand this thing. So, enter Chris Hogan and his Retire Inspired book. Now, I’ll be honest I’ve read many financial books and so my hopes for this one weren’t really high because most of the financial books out there on investing are not only confusing but boring and are filled with all kinds of strange jargon.
Chris takes a coach approach in his book to help readers understand how the stock market works and his grocery store analogy was perfect! It was like a lightbulb went off in my head and I finally got it!
Now, don’t get me wrong I still need to do a lot of research and even talk to a financial planner about my investments but now I don’t feel so lost. One of the reasons I’ve been putting off speaking to someone about investing is that I didn’t really understand it enough to hold a conversation about it with someone. I was worried that I’d end up investing my money in the wrong stuff and then still end up lost and confused.
In Retired Inspired, Chris walks you through the different investment options and even guides you based on where you are in life. So, if you’re 50 years old and haven’t invested a dime, Chris helps you understand your options and the minimum amount you need to be investing at this point in your life. He also helps you determine what exactly your retirement goal should be – as in, he helps you figure out the exact number you must have in order to retire one day based on what your goals are.
So, if you’ve been putting off determining your retirement goals or contributing to a retirement account at all, I encourage you stop the excuses and start now. It’s never too late to start.
Are you prepared for retirement? If so, I’d love to hear how you’ve been able to prepare and when you started planning.
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This year, I did NOT contribute to retirement for the first time in my adult life. I know it was the right decision (quitting practicing law and taking a 50% salary cut), but I am itching to start back up. I am going to start again in May and I can’t wait!
That was me in 2013 – I felt so weird for not contributing even a $1 to retirement. lol And I can’t wait for you to pass the CFP exam – I’ll be your first client so you can tell me where I need to invest. 🙂
We were good about saving for retirement until my husband went to law school. Then we stopped contributing (because essentially it would have just made us more in debt) and now we’re working our way out of law school debt. We were secretly excited when my husband’s new job with the state required a 9% contribution to retirement. It feels good to at least be doing *something*!
That’s how I felt when my husband started working for this company he does now. It’s the first time in his life he’s had an employer with a 401(k) plan…I was all jumping up and down and super excited about contributing the full 6% so we could get the full benefit of the employer match. My hubs on the other hand looked at me like I had twelve heads. lol. 🙂
My husband’s a CPA and financial planner. I know I’m biased, but I think he’s awesome at it. He never makes people feel that they’re stupid for not understanding this stuff. Instead he explains it in a way that makes sense. He recently had a new client come in who is a plumber, who left his old accountant because that person made him feel like an idiot. My husband pointed out that most accountants don’t know a lot about plumbing, and thankfully most plumbers don’t stand there lecturing them on their lack of knowledge when they come in do a job. We all have different skill-sets and a good professional will never make you feel stupid for not understanding something. (Really, that’s just a sign of their own low self-esteem, if the only way they can feel bad about themselves is to make the client feel stupid about something the client hasn’t even studied!)
My husband and I are not where we should be/would like to be, but we’re not in horrible shape, either. I’ve worked part-time and without benefits for several years, so I don’t get to take part in any employer accounts. I have Roth IRAs that my parents started for me years ago, but I’ll admit that I haven’t added anything to them in a few years. Fortunately, we’ve been consistently adding to my husband’s 401K, but not as much as we’d like. Overall, I’d probably give us a B- or C+. So there’s work to be done!
I heard Chris Hogan talk about retirement planning and his book on Lauren and Mark Greutman’s podcast, so between that and your review, I’m motivated to read his book!
It’s great! I actually am letting my mom read my copy right now because there was so much in the book that she didn’t even know – like if you wait until you’re 70 to take out Social Security benefits, you’ll get 124% of your benefits! It’s really awesome and super informative. 🙂
Such a timely post, but it is really important to plan for what you can manage and put yourself first rather than saving for a College education for instance.
So, I just got home from work and checked my mail… My retire inspired, that I ordered months ago, was delivered today. Then I checked your blog… And your blogging about the book. I think I better get busy… Someone is trying to tell me something!!
That is awesome! Yes, read it! You’ll enjoy it! 🙂
Retirement IS scary. I don’t understand/”believe in” the stock market either, and that probably makes things worse. However, your post makes it sound doable…thanks!