Money, Money, Money

  • Published
  • By By Lt. Col. Kimberly Lalley
  • 514th Air Mobility Wing
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST --  
As January comes to an end, many started this New Year with resolutions. Maybe saving more money was one of yours. No matter where you are in your career or your retirement plan, the secret to saving more money for the future is to start now! The earlier you begin the sooner the magic of compounding kicks in.
Financial advisors show even just $35 a week, five dollars a day, invested in good growth stock mutual funds could allow you to retire as a millionaire 40 years later. Think how much money you might spend on one night out, or a daily coffee drink.
Consider this, $35 a week is approximately 15% of a $12,000 salary:

• In 20 years, you could retire with $110,000 to $150,000
• In 30 years, you could retire with $330,000 to $490,000
• In 40 years, you could retire with $890,000 to $1.5 million!

That doesn’t consider any annual raises. Since 1984 the military has received a raise from as little as 1% to as much as 6.9% in 2002. As Reservists, we can ALL take advantage of the opportunities to invest in the Thrift Savings Plan. If you take advantage of making small investments now, you could be very pleased with your nest egg years later.
A recent HSBC Group study of worldwide saving habits discovered that people who devise a financial plan have more than twice as much in their nest egg than those with no plan at all.
There are some big changes coming to the current military retirement plan. A blended plan begins in 2018, where an approximate 20 percent cut in pensions will be supplemented by contributions to individual retirement investment accounts. To retire comfortably, Service members will need to take a more active role in their investments. Since the new plan doesn’t begin until 2018, what should you do now?
Make your retirement a priority. There are changes coming, but contributing as much as you can to your TSP now will boost your efforts no matter what happens in Washington. If you’re not currently contributing, go to myPay (https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx) and start NOW!