Personal Budget Tips From the IRS: 10 Reasons to Put Off Saving for Retirement
Here’s a perfect list of 10 reasons on why you should put off saving for retirement, from the always sarcastic and funny folks at the Internal Revenue Service (In PDF format as the web page was taken down by the IRS).
- There are so many important things I need that money for NOW. An extra dinner out this week with the family. That new driver to revolutionize my golf game. The fancy pair of sneakers that make the whiz bang noise with each step.
Mint’s Note: Ah. The consumer lifestyle, where delay gratification is an unknown concept and future needs should never be a consideration. The IRS may be joking, but unfortunately this may be one of the top reasons why people put off saving for their retirement.
- There’ll always be time to save later. Who needs a Personal Budget now? Let’s just focus on the here and now. Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow.
Money Saving Tips: The power of compound interest works best when time is on your side. Just by starting eight years earlier, you can put away 23% less money than someone who starts later, and still end up with more money than them when it comes time to retire.
- Maybe I won’t live long enough to retire. Life is so uncertain. Why should I miss out on the high life now when I might not even need to have money put aside for my old age? (If married, change pronouns in this reason to the plural.)
Life expectancy has been steadily increasing across the globe. Sorry buddy, but it’s not over until the fat lady sings.
- I love a challenge. Working into my 70’s or 80’s or 90’s can’t be that hard.
Perhaps not, especially since health and life expectancy is on the rise. On the other hand, according to Career Journal, more than one in four U.S. businesses has failed to plan to hire or retain older workers.
- Social Security payments alone will take care of my needs. I know the average Social Security payment is $838 a month. And I’ll only need money for things like food and housing.. and medical care.. and clothing and..
And maybe everything else. That’s only if you want to have a life beyond the basic minimal needs, of course.
- I don’t know how to begin. There are so many ways to go about saving for retirement that I need more time to think about it. After all there’s the retirement savings plan at work and IRA’s and even investing in things like real estate. I just don’t know where to start.
Money Saving Tips from the IRS. Start by checking out your employer’s retirement savings plan such as 401k or individual retirement account options at various financial institutions.
- I don’t know how much I need for retirement. But I bet it’s a huge number and I don’t think I can do it. So I won’t do anything.
Please refer to Mint’s comment in number two and six. Want a ballpark number to the amount necessary? Check out the retirement calculator at CNN Money.
- Planning for retirement is such a big, complicated undertaking. There’s no one I can talk to about it. They’d know that I haven’t really started a personal budget yet. That would be embarrassing. And how should I invest the money I save? Who can you really trust in this day and age?
Living in poverty due to financial inaction might just be a little bit more embarrassing than the actual inaction itself. Who to talk to and who to trust? Consider a Certified Financial Planner or a Chartered Financial Analyst.
Would you be embarrassed to contact a health professional if you accidentally contracted a serious disease? If the answer is no, then you should also not be embarrassed in consulting a trustworthy, certified financial professional with your financial troubles.
- I might get lucky. You never know, I may win the lottery. Or I may be remembered in the will of a long lost relative. Or I might find that my house is right in the middle of a diamond field.
With odds such as ranging between 1 in 146, 107,962 and 1 in 175,711,536; the lottery is a sure bet.
- Taking care of me financially will provide wonderful character-building opportunities for my children. And so many chances for me to feel warm gratitude toward them.
The IRS has outdone themselves with this one. It’s so far fetch that we couldn’t come up with a witty response or follow-up.
Want to do something about your retirement?
Check out this nifty 32 page PDF, Saving Fitness: A Guide to Your Money and Your Financial Future from the U.S. Department of Labor (with help from Certified Financial Planners).
Sure, the booklet may not be as funny as the article from the IRS, but once you’re living a comfortable and secure retirement life, you can always splurge for the occasional tickets to The Improv.
That’s a pretty funny take. Remember, they don’t give scholarships or loans for retirement.
It’s so easy to save for retirement when your company offers you a 401K plan but I’m not sure what to do now that I’m working somewhere that doesn’t offer one.
Misti, If your current employer doesn’t offer a 401k, then you need to rollover your old 401k into an IRA or a Roth IRA. This is a very easy thing to do and any of the people working at an investment company can help you out.
Try to find a good investor locally, or do what I do and just invest directly with a reputable company like Vanguard (www.vanguard.com) or any of the other well known and reliable companies out there.
Thanks for the info Aron!
when are they going to launch this site. I saw them at an event back in May and they said they were less than a month away. I”M READY!!
[...] надо прекратить откладывать деньги на старость”. Вот тут есть прекрасные комментарии к этой статье, которые я [...]
Is this a joke, or were they actually being serious. I hope to god its a joke.
@Justin: I’m sorry for the wait
We know that many people are ready to use Mint, but we also want to launch the product right the first time.
@MoneyWars: It was definitely a joke. Although I suppose a disclaimer or notice somewhere might be a good idea.
The IRS? Humorous? Who would’a thunk it? How is this possible? Hmmm….maybe they outsourced the development of that list to someone overseas? Where’s my Mint beta invite?
Blowing Off Retirement Savings-Misguided Thoughts of the Future Impoverished
http://personalbudgeting.suite101.com/blog.cfm/blowing_off_retirement_savings
cap, is there anyway i can get on beta? Also, i took the survey that allowed me to gain access but never received any further information. Can you help? Thanks.
Justin
Hey guys, we’re slowly expanding the beta list. If you’ve completed the survey then you’ll have a better shot at getting a beta invite. I’m sorry about the wait but we hope you can be patient.
@Shelly: (Edit: Haha.) It would be incredibly ironic if the government outsources development on their own websites to oversea.
Hey Cap!
The government does some incredibly moronic…ooops…I mean ironic things.
I don’t seriously think that list was outsourced, I was just in a silly mood when I wrote that.
Shelley
Ah just realized that my response came off sounding like I took you seriously. I’m not that dense
[...] From the IRS: 10 Reasons to Put Off Saving for Retirement [...]
HAHAHAHA hilarious. Even more hilarious is the govt making fun of not saving for retirement, when they too are BILLIONS of dollars in debt. heh.
Thanks cap. I look forward to the invite. Can’t wait to check it out.
[...] had to smile when I read the 10 reasons to put off saving for retirement. Anyone who’s not saving for retirement should read it too. It makes you realize how [...]
I’m not sure if I like the fact that this is coming from the official IRS website. I suspect that some people will take the article the wrong way.
Very amusing. I don’t think I’ve ever smiled that long when reading any information from the IRS. Sadly, too many people are too literal to comprehend the list’s intentions. I only hope they had some links for real resources somewhere nearby.
[...] I first read the subject of Mint’s post “From the IRS: 10 Reason to Put Off Saving for Retirement“, I seriously thought it was a typo. Oh boy, was I sadly mistaken. This article, along with [...]
[...] from The Mint Blog decides to rebut the IRS’s own humorous, sarcastic list in his article, From the IRS: 10 Reasons to Put Off Saving for Retirement. If you do the opposite of what’s on the list, you’ll be in good [...]