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Everyone hopes that their reward for decades of hard work will be decades more to enjoy the fruits of their labor.
But according to one of financial guru Suze Orman’s rules of thumb — that you should have 10x your income saved by age 67 — the average American is nowhere near ready for retirement.
In an episode of her podcast Women & Money last year, Orman spoke to broadcaster Chris Wallace about the current financial landscape for Americans.
In fact, the picture is bleak. In response to Wallace’s query about American’s personal finances, Orman said, “75 percent of the people in the United States don’t have 400 dollars to their name in case of an emergency.”
Furthermore, A 2024 study from Northwestern Mutual shows that Americans believe they need $1.46 million to retire comfortably, but the current average retirement savings sit at just $88,000.
In a blog post earlier this year, Orman sent Americans a call to action to get themselves on track for their future: “I hereby challenge you to gift yourself more retirement security by increasing your contributions to your retirement accounts.”
Unsure how to start doing this? Here are three Orman-backed tips for getting your retirement savings on track.
To avoid paying tax when making a withdrawal from your retirement account, Orman recommends you go for a Roth IRA account.
Because your contributions to a Roth account are made after tax, you won’t have to deal with deductions when you withdraw. Traditional IRAs, on the other hand, aren’t taxed when you make contributions, so you end up paying later.
In an interview with Wall Street Journal this year, Orman explained that a 25-year-old could start putting $100 a month into an S&P 500 index fund through a Roth IRA every year until they hit 65.
“It’s very probable that you will average a 12% annual rate of return over 40 years,” Orman said. “At the end of those years, you have a million dollars.”
Most banks and brokerage firms offer these accounts. But if you’re looking to combine the tax benefits of an IRA with a traditionally recession-resistant asset, opening a gold IRA might be worth considering.
This commodity-based individual retirement account allows you to both invest in gold — a solid hedge against inflation — and benefit from the tax advantages of an IRA.
A gold IRA is one option for building up your retirement fund with an inflation-hedging asset.
Opening a gold IRA with the help of Goldco allows you to invest in gold and other precious metals in physical forms while also providing the significant tax advantages of an IRA.
With a minimum purchase of $10,000, Goldco offers free shipping and access to a library of retirement resources. Plus, the company will match up to 10% of qualified purchases in free silver.
If you’re curious whether this is the right investment to diversify your portfolio, you can download your free gold and silver information guide today.
Read more: Rich, young Americans are ditching stocks — here are the alternative assets they’re banking on instead
Regularly revisiting your portfolio can help you ensure you’re making informed decisions that are in line with your financial goals and timelines.
As Orman advised in a 2024 blog post: “This is your retirement and your money. Financial literacy is a need, not a want.”
Orman also once told CNBC that she recommends either stocks or exchange-traded funds ETFs that pay dividends. So even if the market sees a downturn, your investments will still provide you some income.
If you find you’re still building up the diversified portfolio Orman deems so important, you can do so simply by spending money using Acorns — an automated investing app that makes investing easily accessible.
All you have to do is sign up and link your bank account. The app will automatically round up the total cost of your purchases and invest the difference in a smart portfolio of ETFs. So all it takes to help strengthen your portfolio and save for retirement is to make your everyday purchases and watch your money grow.
You can also open an IRA account with Acorns Later, and get potential tax benefits. With the Acorns Gold plan, you can get a 3% match on new IRA contributions, as well as customize your portfolio by choosing individual stocks. You can also opt for the Acorns Silver plan, which offers a 1% match on new IRA contributions.
If you sign up today, you can get a $20 bonus investment to get you started.
According to the Federal Reserve, only 36% of non-retirees thought their retirement savings were on track as of 2021. If you feel you could use some professional help getting retirement ready, consider reaching out to a financial advisor.
If you want advice on how much cash you should hold in your portfolio, and how to invest for safety in this market, consider finding a financial advisor through Advisor.com.
This online platform connects you with vetted financial advisors best suited to help you develop a plan for your new wealth.
Just answer a few quick questions about yourself and your finances and the platform will match you with an experienced financial professional. You can view their profile, read past client reviews, and schedule an initial consultation for free with no obligation to hire.
You can view advisor profiles, read past client reviews, and schedule an initial consultation for free with no obligation to hire.
If you haven’t already, Orman says it’s time to buckle down and take a deep look through your budget.
When speaking with the Wall Street Journal, Orman emphasized that it’s crucial for people to live below their means but within their needs.
She compares strict budgets to diets, explaining, “If you restrict, you limit, you cut back, you don’t buy this, you don’t buy that, and then all of a sudden you explode and you go out and you buy everything at once.”
To start living below your means, one of the best expenses to trim is monthly expenses insurance coverage. Make sure you aren’t overpaying for your home and auto coverage.
With OfficialCarInsurance, you can easily compare car insurance rates with just a few clicks.
Simply answer a few questions, and OfficialCarInsurance will show you a list of insurance offers available in your area.
There’s also OfficialHomeInsurance.com, that takes the hassle out of shopping for home insurance. In just under 2 minutes, you can explore competitive rates from top insurance providers, all in one place. OfficialHomeInsurance makes it easy to find the coverage you need at a price that fits your budget.
The side-by-side comparison is helping homeowners save an average of $482 on their home insurance policies.
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