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That’s right, it’s National Save for Retirement Week. Did you even know it existed? Since 2006, the third week of October has been designated by Congress as National Save for Retirement Week in order to “increase personal financial literacy and raise public awareness of the retirement-savings vehicles available to all workers” according to RetirementWeek.org.
Which brings us back to the very important question: What are you currently doing to save? Hopefully, you have a good answer. If not, here’s what you should know about the subject and a few ways you can get on track to saving for your own retirement.
ICMA-RC Supports Event
ICMA-RC is a non-profit independent financial services organization that provides retirement products and services to public sector employees participating in more than 8,000 plans. This organization also “hosts” Save for Retirement Week each year and in a press release last week, they announced their continued support and plans to provide both local and state government employers with materials and educational activity plans for the week of October 17-23.
Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Launches Educational Program
Hartford is one of the companies participating this week–the “Your Retirement. Plan for Life” program from Hartford is being made available to over 1.5 million retirement plan participants through 401(k), 403(b) and 457 plan sponsors. The goal is to increase participation in defined contribution plans by providing tools and resources that demonstrate the value of regularly contributing to a retirement savings account over time.
Americans Need to Get Serious About Saving
Find out if your employer is offering educational materials or activities during the rest of the week so you can be fully prepared with the knowledge and resources you need to ensure a secure retirement. Recent data shows that most Americans, though they believe they should save more, simply aren’t.
Even though a recession and rocky job market have made saving for retirement much more difficult for a lot of people, doing so should nonetheless be a top priority for everyone. In fact, contributor Ryan Guina explains that when prioritizing your savings, retirement should be the main focus within the long-term category.
Not worried yet? Right now, the average 401(k) balance is only $60,000 to $70,000, which is nowhere near the amount needed to support even the most modest lifestyle through retirement. If your balance is around this number as well (or worse, lower) and your retirement is age on the horizon, you need to catch up fast.
Take advantage of this special week while you still can, just don’t revert back to your slacker ways once it’s over. There’s an endless supply of retirement resources available so take the time to educate yourself.
