Most baby boomers I speak with say things like:
“I wish I had saved more money for retirement”
“I’ll never be able to retire”
I’ve had several discussions with Gen X and Y’ers about my 16.5% strategy, of putting more money into superannuation. The common rebuttals are:
“But I’ll have to wait till I’m 65”
“But I won’t be able to touch it”
That’s the point people!
People are programmed not to save for the extra long term. People will always opt for short term pleasure (buying a new car) over long term pleasure (retiring comfortably). In addition people who avoid short term pain (the pain of regular saving) will be faced with long term pain (retiring broke, or working till the grave).
Don’t feel bad, it’s not all your fault you’re programmed this way. I cannot save money to save my life, I simply don’t have the discipline. I always had something awesome that I needed to buy. And I always said I would save money when I was earning more. Problem is I always had something I’d rather spend my money on, and I was always living just beyond my means, so no matter how much I was earning, I never had enough.
The only way you can over come this programming to make a plan that requires negligible thought or effort on your part. Then you need to put that plan into action, then you need to forget all about it, until you review your financial position at the end of the year.
If you want to learn more about saving without thinking, try David Bach’s Automatic Millionaire, it’s a great place to start.