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Build a Strong Financial Future

Your 'financial workout' helps make your retirement work out

By Department of Labor

Quick … what’s the most expensive thing you’ll ever buy?

Your house? A car? That home theater complete with hi-def TV and surround-sound?

How about your retirement?

What you’re doing when socking away a nest egg is buying tomorrow’s financial freedom.

And, like building your body for a marathon race, you’re strengthening your savings as much as you can until the big day comes… the day you stop working for a living.

The process of building finances is compared with building your body in the U.S. Department of Labor’s Savings Fitness: A Guide to Your Money and Your Financial Future. Like your personal workout, saving for retirement is primarily your responsibility.

What your have to figure out, according to the guide, is how your financial resources affect your ability to reach your goals and how to protect those goals from potential financial crisis.

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It’s best to start that at an early age, but it’s not what many people do.  Just take a look at the number of people middle-aged and older who join fitness clubs or take to jogging on a regular basis. Those folks are getting in shape by making up for lost time, which is what many have to do when saving for retirement.

At the heart of the savings fitness plan is maximizing potential, either through employer based retirement plans or personal accounts for the self-employed. But like a serious fitness program, the trick is to stay on track.

Now that you know the how-to, keeping it up is the next goal. The Department of Labor suggests to periodically review your spending plan, monitor your investments and make necessary adjustments, contribute more as you earn more, update insurance safety nets and keep your finances in order.

These tips are just starting points.  The one real key to buying your retirement to start saving.

Now.

By Department of Labor
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