If you haven’t taken time to set up a retirement account, this is your official nudge. If you already have one, make sure your contributions reflect the lifestyle you desire.
“Women tend to live longer than men and therefore need their retirement savings to last longer,” says Burns, who specializes in helping newly single women across the U.S. achieve financial independence.
Studies find that women are better at investing than men, but they save and invest far too little, too infrequently, which puts us at a huge disadvantage. Time to take control of our lives, ladies. Here’s how to get started.
A general rule is that you should set aside 10% to 15% of your pretax income, which sounds like a lot. That’s because it is, especially when you’re raising children.
If you work for someone else, you may have access to a 401(k) plan. With this type of plan, employees contribute a certain percentage of their wages and may even receive a “match” of some of those funds from their employer.
If you’re investing in a retirement account outside of your workplace plan, open an account with an investment firm like Vanguard, Fidelity, Ellevest. You will choose either an IRA or Roth IRA as your account type and link it to your bank account so you can move money into it regularly.
Within each of these investment vehicles, you will be asked to choose stocks, bonds, mutual funds or index funds.