One of the secrets to a financially secure retirement is becoming debt free, at least as free of debt as possible. When you go into retirement with a large mortgage payment and credit card debt, chances are your will be stretching your income to the limits just to make ends meet.
Although retirees of past generations also made it a goal to become debt free before they reached the age of retirement, they were far more successful than today's seniors. A bad economy and modern lifestyles have made it very difficult to pay off debt before retirement, but it is still possible with enough planning and budgeting.
The first thing you need to do to ensure a financially secure retirement is to have some type of retirement plan. Your plan should include investing and saving so that you will have more money to live on when you do retire. Though you will likely receive Social Security, in most cases the amount that you will get will be too little to get you through retirement. If your employer offers a 401k, take advantage of this retirement savings tool, plus you may want to put money away in an IRA account. There are several ways in which you can invest for retirement; to find out what method would be best for your particular situation you will want to consult with a professional financial planner.
The second part of your retirement plan should be a strategy to become debt free by the time you are ready to retire. To do this you will need to budget. Find as many ways that you can to cut your expenses within reason. Of course you don't want to live a substandard life now in order to have money when you retire, but there are a number of ways to cut expenses that shouldn't affect your current lifestyle to a great extent.
You will next want to make use of all of this extra money you are saving by paying down your mortgage and ridding yourself of other unnecessary debt, such as credit cards, auto loans, etc. If possible, keep only one credit card and make sure it is paid down each month. Avoid impulse buying by making it a habit of waiting a week or two before making any large purchases. The better you budget and plan now, the happier you will be when it comes time to retire.
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