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Whether you are saving for retirement in a 401(k) or in an IRA in a brokerage account, chances are good you are not setting aside enough for your future. And some people -- around 35% of Americans -- are saving nothing at all, which could be a huge problem since Social Security alone is not enough to live on.
If you aren't saving enough to provide yourself with financial security in your later years, some simple advice from finance expert Suze Orman could make all the difference in prompting you to invest more for your future.
Here's what Suze Orman thinks you should do to save more for retirement
On Facebook, Orman had a simple suggestion for people who aren't saving for retirement, or who aren't saving enough. "Here's your homework," Orman wrote. "Spend 15 minutes writing a letter to your 75- or 85-year-old self. Share what you hope to be doing then, what your dreams are, who you want to be."
It may seem hard to believe that this exercise could actually make a noticeable difference in your ability to put money away. But, Orman said that researchers have found it can make a huge difference in your motivation if you try to connect to your older self.
"One of the reasons we sometimes find it so hard to save for retirement is that we don't really think about being older," she explained. "We tend to view our 75- or 85-year-old future self as a total stranger, and thus we're not motivated to take actions that are kind to that older stranger."
By thinking about what your life will be like later, you can change this mindset and get a deeper understanding of how the decisions you are making now about your retirement savings will affect the opportunities that are open to you later on in life.
Can following Orman's advice work for you?
Orman's advice is great, because motivation really is half the battle for many people when it comes to saving money in a brokerage account for retirement.
The reality is, today's needs are always going to feel more pressing and it is always going to be difficult to sacrifice now for a retirement that it's hard to imagine because it is so many decades into the future. But the longer you wait to save, the harder it is going to be to amass the nest egg you need. And you could find yourself in your 60s or 70s when you can no longer work and are left without options and end up with lots of regret.
By thinking ahead about what life will look like, you can take an important first step. Hopefully, doing this exercise will give you the incentive you need to make a budget that prioritizes retirement savings -- and will prompt you to set up automatic transfers of money to your retirement investment account so you end up with the funds your future 75- or 85-year-old self deserves.
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