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How Much Should I Really Be Saving for Retirement? · Becoming Financially Confident

• 0:37
  Retirement feels so far away until one day it isn't that far away.
• 0:43
  And if you've ever wondered whether you're saving enough for retirement, you're asking one of the most important financial questions that you'll ever face.
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  So today, let's find an answer that gives you confidence instead of anxiety.
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  Truth is, most people don't know whether they're ahead of the game or behind the game.
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  But but I'm going to tell you right now, you don't have to be perfect to make meaningful progress.
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  So stay with me today and let's build a retirement plan you can actually stick with.
• 1:20
  Hello and welcome to Financially Confident Christian.
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  I'm the financial evangelist Ralph Estep Jr.
• 1:26
  And I just want to thank you so much for joining me today.
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  Today's topic is preparing for one of life's biggest financial milestones.
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  And we got a great listener question.
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  The listener asked, am I saving enough?
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  How much should I actually invest?
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  And what if I started later than I wanted to?
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  And I'm going to spill the beans right now.
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  I lived in this same reality until a few years ago because the truth is the numbers do feel big.
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  But every comfortable retiree started with one contribution at a time.
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  And that's what we'll talk about on today's show.
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  Now, if you're facing a financial question or you've got something you want me to answer here on the show, I would love to hear from you.
• 2:07
  You can go to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question We'll put a link in the show notes, but again, that's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/question Well, let's get right to today's listener question.
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  Now this one, I had to read the email subject because when I saw this, I said, this is one I've got to cover on the show.
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  And the subject line said this.
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  I feel like I'm already behind on retirement.
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  I'm going to tell you right now, I thought my wife had sent this message in because this is where I was a few years ago.
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  And I'll talk about that a little bit later.
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  But let's get right into today's listener question.
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  Listener writes this Ralph, I'm 42 years old and lately retirement has been on my mind a great deal.
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  Now, when I was younger, I thought I'd have plenty of time to save.
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  But then life happened.
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  Kids, bills, a few financial setbacks, and now I'm realizing I don't have nearly as much saved as I had hoped for.
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  I contribute a little through work, but I honestly have no idea if it's enough.
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  Every article I read gives different percentages and different retirement goals.
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  Some days I feel super motivated.
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  Other days I feel like I've waited too long and there's no catching up.
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  Is there a simple way to know what I should be doing?
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  Thank you for what you do, Ralph.
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  Thank you for sending in that question.
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  And I'm going to tell you right now, this is a question that I hear from people probably ten times a week.
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  And it's one of those things that causes so much anxiety and so much stress.
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  But I want to start off with a big idea here.
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  Retirement isn't built by guessing.
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  It's built by consistency over time.
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  Basically, one day at a time.
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  So let's talk about building a simplified process.
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  I want to encourage you to do first thing first, start with what you control.
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  You can't change what's happened behind you the years that you went past.
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  And I'll tell my story now.
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  For many years, I should have been putting away money for retirement.
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  And it wasn't until about seven years ago that my wife finally said to me, she said, ralph, you got to start thinking serious about this.
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  And for so long I had just said, oh, you know, it'll figure itself out.
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  It'll happen one of these days down the road.
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  But I finally had to come to a point when I realized something.
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  I can't change the years behind me, and you can't change the years behind you, but you can absolutely influence the years ahead of you.
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  So don't waste any time today grieving yesterday.
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  Start the contributions today.
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  Because every contribution from this point matters.
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  And that progress will finally start the moment that you start building that momentum.
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  Because you can't invest yesterday's dollars, but you can faithfully invest today.
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  So here's the first thing I want you to do.
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  Take advantage of employer matching.
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  You got to contribute enough to get the full match whenever possible.
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  That's part of your compensation.
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  I was having a conversation with somebody the other day and I said, it really comes down to this.
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  It's like you're walking down the sidewalk and you look down and you see a hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk and you just walk right past it.
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  You just leave it on the ground.
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  Well, that's the same thing.
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  It happens when you ignore what your company is doing is matching.
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  So learn how your company's plan works and make sure you're taking full advantage of at least up to the matching component, because it's not.
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  Basically, you're leaving money on the table because if Someone is willing to help you build your future.
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  Don't leave that gift on the table and say, I don't want it.
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  But another thing you got to think about is that compound growth.
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  Do the heavy lifting.
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  As I mentioned, you're not going to build this retirement.
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  You're not going to get this rich swig overnight.
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  It's all about giving time for the room and the compound interest to work.
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  That consistency that doing it with every paycheck beats those occasional large deposits.
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  So don't obsess about daily market changes.
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  I hear so many people like, oh, the market's doing, feeling terrible right now, but I'm so worried about retirement.
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  Stay focused on the long term.
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  Time often accomplishes what harder trying harder could never accomplish.
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  Now, here's one thing, little takeaway for today.
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  One thing you can definitely do is increase your savings as your income grows.
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  Every time you get a raise, every time you get a bonus, that is a great opportunity to actually build additional momentum to your savings.
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  It's a great time to increase that retirement contributions before the increase in lifestyle.
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  It's so easy when you get those raises or you get that bonus at work to say, well, this is a great time to go on a vacation.
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  This is a great time to expand our lifestyle a little bit.
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  Maybe we build a bit bigger, a bigger house or we buy a nicer car, but that's also a really great opportunity to put more money into your retirement.
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  That small percentage increase becomes significant over the decades.
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  I'm not going to get into the math today, but these numbers get huge.
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  So build that habit gradually.
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  Avoid that lifestyle inflation whenever possible.
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  Because when your income grows, let your future grow with it.
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  But I also want you to think about something else.
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  Don't let fear keep you from starting.
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  Honestly, I get back to my story.
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  That's what it was all about for me.
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  I honestly, I didn't want to get older.
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  I didn't want to think about, yes, I'm actually getting older.
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  And most people delay this because they think they're behind and they just, oh, why bother, Ralph?
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  I read the statistics every day.
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  This is a huge problem throughout the United States and, dare I say, through the world.
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  And when you continue to wait, it only makes catching up even harder to do.
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  And I'd much rather you start imperfectly because that's going to be waiting for perfection.
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  As I talk about on the show all the time, focus on faithful progress, because I'm going to guarantee you something.
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  Your future self is going to say, thank you.
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  The best retirement plan that is in the best place is the one that you actually begin.
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  And you can start that today.
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  Now, I want to get into your question a little deeper.
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  It's easy to believe you've missed your opportunity.
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  So many people think the same way you did.
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  And that's the enemy whispering to you.
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  He's whispering to you.
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  Oh, it's too late.
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  But Scripture reminds us that God is never surprised by our time.
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  We might be surprised by his, but he's not surprised by ours.
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  Here's what faith doesn't promise us.
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  It doesn't promise us that every investment is going to go up every year.
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  There are going to be times when you're, you're going to look at your statement, go, what just happened here?
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  It doesn't promise us you're going to retire exactly when you planned.
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  You might have your plans and God might laugh and say, well, not, not right now, Ralph.
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  And it doesn't promise us that life won't include unexpected setbacks.
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  Those are things that are all part of life, as they say.
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  But here's what fate does promise us.
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  It tells us that God honors faithful stewardship.
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  And even if you got 20 years remaining or 40 years, today's faithful decision still matters.
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  And God values faithfulness.
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  Your stewardship begins today.
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  And hope is always stronger than regret.
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  Every wise decision plants future fruit.
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  And it's never too late in your financial journey to become intentional.
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  So don't measure your future by what you haven't done.
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  Measure it by what you're willing to begin today.
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  Your retirement isn't determined by one perfect decision.
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  It's built through thousands of faithful little ones.
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  So to answer your question, just keep showing up.
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  And here's your win for today.
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  Today's win.
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  I want you to review your current retirement contributions, check your contribution percentage and confirm whether you're receiving your full employer match.
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  Hey, if you're not, you are that person walking over that hundred dollar bill on the sidewalk, penned over and picking up.
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  And then decide if you can increase your contribution by just 1% a year.
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  And put this on your calendar.
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  Check this out.
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  Every six months.
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  At the very least, every 12 months.
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  Because those small increases today can become an enormous blessing tomorrow.
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  Take my word for it, just a little increase today.
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  A little intentionality will pay dividends in the future.
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  Which leads us to today's Bible verse.
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  It comes to us from the book of Galatians 20, chapter 6, verse 9, it says.
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  So let's not get tired of doing what is good.
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  At the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up.
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  So friend, don't give up.
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  Retirement planning rewards consistency.
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  Those fatal habits often produce slow, but they produce meaningful results in the long term.
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  So don't ever be discouraged that you're just now starting.
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  Don't be discouraged by gradual process.
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  Keep sowing faithfully and it will work out.
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  How about we pray together right now?
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  Heavenly Father, thank you for caring about every season of our lives.
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  Help us to become faithful stewards of the future you've entrusted to us, Lord.
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  Give us wisdom to prepare well without becoming consumed by worry.
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  Teach us to remain consistent even when progress feels slower, maybe when we should have done it before, Lord, and replace regret that we have with hope, Lord.
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  And replace fear with just faithful action.
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  And may our planning reflect our trust in you and our commitment to wise stewardship.
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  And we ask this in Jesus name.
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  Amen, friend.
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  Retirement planning doesn't require perfection, it just requires consistency.
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  So start where you are.
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  Take advantage of opportunities available to you.
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  Increase your savings over time and and trust God while faith we're preparing for tomorrow.
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  So here's my takeaways for today.
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  Focus on what you can control.
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  Don't worry about what happened in the past.
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  Trust that compound growth, increase that savings as income grows and begin today.
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  Even if you started later than you expected now maybe you're going through a financial season.
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  You could use a little encouragement.
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  Or you have a question.
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  I would love to answer your question and I would actually love to hear your voice.
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  You can leave me a voicemail message by going to financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail we'll put a link in the show notes and all you gotta do is click on it and click record and I'll hear your voice and I'll mention it
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  on the show again.
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  That's financiallyconfidentchristian.com/voicemail thank you so much for joining me today.
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  I want to encourage you, as I always do, stay financially savvy.
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  May God bless you and you have a great day today.