After you’ve paid off all of your debts and have a fully funded emergency fund, it’s time to start planning for retirement! Woo hoo!

When you think of retirement what comes to mind? Traveling the world? Moving to a lake house or vacation house? Spending lots of time with kids and and grand kids?

The recommended amount to invest is 15% of your income in retirement accounts. To start this process look into retirement accounts, such as 401(k), that your job offers. Put in as much as they will let you, some employers will even match what you are investing! Yay free money! Then after you’ve maxed out your 401(k), invest the rest of what you need in Roth IRA’s for you and if you have a spouse.

To learn more about investing for retirement I highly recommend reading retire inspired and everyday millionaires, they are both written by Chris Hogan. They are also very easy to read and get through.

I learned from reading that retirement isn’t so much an age, but a financial number. That’s why planning for retirement is so important. If you want to retire early, it is possible, but you’re going to have to work hard for it and plan for it.

You will find it so much easier to put away 15% of your income when you’re on a budget, have your emergency fund in place and no debt! That’s why the baby steps are so important, they build on one another. After you’ve built your emergency fund, you can more or less put all of the money from that into your retirement accounts.

You really can create the life you want, I believe in you!