• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Save for Retirement with an Incremental Strategy

January 25, 2017
VMD Staff

If you break your long-term goals into shorter and more easily measurable increments, saving for retirement won’t seem quite so overwhelming.

It’s pretty clear that Americans need to save more for retirement. For one, people today are living longer, which means many will live in retirement for as long as 4 decades. You’ll need to save up for that! Second, depending on the number of years you have until you retire, Social Security’s as a supplement to retirement income may no longer be plausible.

One of the key obstacles for many people when it comes to saving is the instant gratification trap—spending is easy, saving is harder. Investing may be hardest of all, though, because it’s not just burrowing money away. Investing is actively learning how to make your money work for you. This involves time and effort now that won’t pay off until later.

Investing for retirement is a decidedly long-term goal. Once you’ve established your investing goals, implemented your strategy, and set the money aside, the next steps are to stick to that plan and just wait it out.

Bored already? Here are a few ways to make the waiting seem a little less mundane.

Advertisement

Set intermediate goals.

The idea behind an ad campaign Fidelity ran a few years ago was to “find your retirement number,” which, granted, wasn’t a bad concept. The ads were quickly discontinued, though, because they depicted people walking about hauling huge amounts of money like $2,000,000. The people hauling those numbers around looked like they were dealing with an albatross.

Thinking about a huge end number of multiple millions can make the day-to-day investment seem pointless and the long-term goal overwhelming. Don’t follow this ad campaign’s advice—break it down into smaller increments. Instead of resolving to be a billionaire on your retirement day, resolve simply to max out your retirement investments this year.

Be aware of your progress.

Saving for retirement yields promising evidence as the value of your investments begins to increase slowly. Many of us, though, receive our retirement statements, glance at them to make sure nothing catastrophic has happened, and move on with our day. Instead of just taking a glance, try taking a closer look. You may find those incremental rewards that will help you keep on track.

Reevaluate constantly.

Rebalancing your portfolio is an often forgotten but necessary step for all investors. Investments change constantly with market swings, stock values, bond values, and the like, which can shift the value and allocation of your portfolio. Try getting things back in line to give yourself something to do while you’re waiting for your savings to pile up.

It’s not an easy task to build up a fund for your future, but it’s one that is important. The key is providing rewards along the way and breaking the goal into shorter, more easily measurable increments.

Related Content:

Practice FinancesPractice Finances
Market research: How to find your edge
Market research: How to find your edge
A technician’s true value
A technician’s true value
Build your first veterinary hospital
Build your first veterinary hospital

Advertisement

Latest News

Xylazine moves from the stables to the streets

DEA reports widespread threat of fentanyl mixed with xylazine

3 Must-reads for National Poison Prevention Week

UC Davis study on eye diseases in kittens

View More Latest News
Advertisement