October 11, 2025 • 14 mins
Today, we’re diving into a crucial topic: why just getting that 401k match isn’t cutting it. Imagine you’re out for a chill walk and you spot a crisp hundred-dollar bill on the sidewalk—do you pick it up? Of course, you do! But what if you just let it sit there? That’s kind of what happens when folks only invest the minimum in their retirement plans. In this episode, we're laying down the facts that might just shock you—most people aren’t saving nearly enough for retirement. So, how do I invest beyond my 401K for success? Let’s chat about how to level up your savings game and not settle for just “enough” when it comes to your golden years. Buckle up; it’s time to get serious about those retirement dreams!
Check the full podcast episode here
We kick things off by taking a stroll down the sidewalk of life, chatting about what it means to truly invest in our futures. Picture this: you’re cruising along, enjoying the sunshine, when you spot a crisp $100 bill just chillin’ there, waiting for you. Do you pick it up? Heck yeah! But what if I told you that in real life, many of us are leaving that money on the ground when it comes to our 401ks? We dive deep into the notion that while employer matches are sweet deals (I mean, free money, right?), relying solely on them for retirement is like showing up to a potluck with just a bag of chips. We break down the cold hard facts: most folks aren’t saving nearly enough for retirement. The stats are wild, and we share some eye-openers that’ll make you want to grab a financial planner ASAP!
Takeaways:
- Always scoop up that employer 401k match because, let's be real, it's basically free money waiting for you on the sidewalk!
- Don't just settle for the minimum savings; aim to sock away at least 15% of your income for retirement to really enjoy those golden years!
- Retirement planning isn't a sprint; it's more like a marathon, so pace yourself and stay consistent in saving over the long haul.
- A surprising number of folks aged 55 to 64 have less than $165,000 saved for retirement, so let's not be part of that statistic!
- If you think investing in a 401k is enough, think again—diversifying and exploring other savings options is key for a comfy retirement!
- Be proactive! Instead of just hitting the bare minimum, consider opening a Roth IRA or brokerage account to beef up your retirement fund!
Links referenced in this episode:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
How about we go for a walktoday together? Yes. Bear with me
here a second because it'sgoing to make sense here in a second.
Let's say we're out for awalk. Put your phone away for a second
and just enjoy the nature allaround. You're walking down the sidewalk
and all of a sudden you seesomething on the sidewalk just a
little bit in front of you.You start to think, what is that?
As you get closer like thatlooks like money. You get closer
(00:21):
yet it's a hundred dollar billlaying on the sidewalk. So let me
ask you this question. Do youpick it up? Of course you did. But
what if you didn't? And that'swhat we want to talk about on today's
show. I want to start talkingabout how do we get beyond just investing
in the 401k because truth is,and I'm going to share some statistics
in just a few minutes, ifyou're just investing in your 401k,
(00:44):
I'm hate to tell you this, butit's not going to be enough. And
I got this listener question.This really nails it. It's an awesome
question, Ralph. I'm alreadygetting my employers 401k match.
That's free money. I'm sohappy that they said that. That is
absolutely true. That is freemoney. But they go on, what should
I do beyond that? How do Imake sure I'm saving enough for retirement?
(01:06):
Again, what an awesomequestion. Because the answer is yes,
it's more than just that 3%match. That's not going to be enough.
See, the 401k match is one ofthe best deals in town out there.
It's free money. Absolutelyagree with that. But if you stop
there, you don't at least bendover and pick up that hundred dollar
bill. The truth is, and I hateto tell you this, but it's the truth.
(01:27):
It's set out of love today.The truth is you're probably not
saving enough for retirement.So let's talk about what comes next
to really fund that retirementfor an impactful retirement. And
you don't feel like you'realways scrimping and saving. This
is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel
grounded insight and faithdriven tips. And to help you break
(01:48):
the cycle of financial shamewith confidence. Hello and welcome
back to the show. My name isRalph and I'm so happy you chose
to join me today. I've workedwith hundreds of clients over the
years maximizing theiremployer plans, building retirement
strategies beyond that 401kmatch. And today I really want to
take a few minutes and talkabout Ralph, what do I do beyond
(02:09):
that? Because there's so manythings that you can do. As we talked
about a little bit, a lot ofemployers, if you're fortunate, you've
got a 401k at work, they'llmatch a certain amount, maybe 3,
4. I've even seen them up to5, 6, 7%. But the problem is in my
practice, and this is a sadpart, I've seen so many people stop
matching at that point they'llsay to me, Ralph, well, I got enough.
(02:32):
I'm putting in what theemployers are. Why should I do more
than that? It's a shortsighted view of this because in the
end, when you get toretirement, I'm going to share some
statistics here in just a fewminutes, when you get to the end,
unfortunately, so many peoplerealize they haven't saved enough.
I'll tell you about a clientthat I worked with. I had a client
one time came and said to me,Ralph, we're maxing out our retirement
(02:53):
because we got that match.That's what they said to me. They
said, Ralph, we're maxing out,we are in good shape. And listen,
I'm not judging them. I usedto think the same thing back before
I started my own practice. Iworked for another business where
I actually had a traditional401k. It seems like ages ago now
as I've been doing this myselffor going on 30 years now. It's hard
to believe it's been thatlong, but so many people think that,
(03:14):
well, I'm maxing out, Ralph.I'm putting in the employer match.
When I sat down with them andI ran the numbers, this is something
I'm going to challenge you todo. It's not a comfortable exercise,
but when we ran the numbers,we found out they were way behind.
And in that particular case,we added a Roth IRA and it changed
our whole trajectory. We'lltalk about how to do some of those
things today. But I love whatDave Ramsey said. I'm not often on
(03:37):
the same page as Dave Ramsey.He has one investment belief, I have
a different one. But Dave saidthis and I 100% agree with this.
The match is great. He alludesto that. I agree with him now, but
it won't make you wealthy byitself. And he I love what he ends
with. If you hear nothing elsethat Ralph says today, what Dave
said nails it. You've got tosave more than the minimum. Well
(04:01):
said, Dave, what do you think?As you're listening Right now. Do
you agree with them? I thinkwe absolutely have to because retirement
is going to cost more than youthink. Here's the statistics. I planned
that. I promise that I willtalk about. Here's the truth. Most
employers match 3 to 6% ofsalary. That's generally the go to
thing that they do. But if youstop there and just do that 3% to
(04:26):
6%, and like I said, 6% is apretty big number. I don't see a
lot of those in the day today. There's a lot of customers,
a lot of people that I workwith, their bosses or their businesses
don't match at all. You mightfind yourself right there. So at
least do the match. But here'sthe thing. They're usually saving
8 to 9% of the total. Buthere's the recommendation. Most financial
(04:46):
gurus, myself included,recommend that you put about 15%
of your annual money away forretirement. You might be saying,
rob, there's no way I'm goingto put 15% away. I'm not saying you're
going to get there today. I'mnot saying you're going to get there
next week or next year. But Ithink in your mind you got to be
thinking about that goal.Because here's the truth. I looked
at this statistic. It wasrather alarming because if you only
(05:10):
do that 3 to 6% where you'reonly putting about 8 to 9% of your
total needed, you're onlygoing to end up without 30 to 60%
of what you need in retirementto retire comfortably. And here's
one, this one actually was asad statistic when I read this, and
this isn't the first time Iheard this, but listen, you need
to hear this for people whoare in ages 55 to 64. So listen,
(05:33):
I'm 53. I'm not far away fromthe beginning point of this particular
statistic. 64, hey, we'regetting ready to retire. But for
those ages 55 to 64, themedian retirement savings means the
middle of that. The averageperson is under $165,000. That's
all they've got saved forretirement, $165,000. Now, the goal,
(05:56):
we talked about thatparticular goal, the goal is between
a half a million and a milliondollars. That's what most households
will need. And we look at thenumbers, that's what most households
will need. You probably say,rob, there's no way I'm going to
get to that. But that's a bigdeal. So if you're younger, it may
Mean, if you're like me inmiddle age, you got to start thinking
about how do I kick this up anotch? How do I get to that point
(06:16):
where I'm going to be able tomake this work? And here's where
the real problem is, theconfidence gap. And when I've read
this, this was really, this isheartbreaking to me. I have a lot
of passion for what I do. Youprobably hear it in my voice every
day. A lot of passion for whatI do. But only 31% of non retirees
say they're on track forretirement savings. Just one third
(06:37):
they might be saying, okay,Ralph, that's too bad for them. Sorry
about that. But here's thesinister part of this. And when I've
read this, think about thisone. Who pays for that shortfall?
Well, guess what? You and Iare paying for that shortfall. And
it's estimated to costgovernments. Listen to this number.
When I've read this number, Iabout fell out of my chair. It's
cost the governments estimatedin 2040 to be $1.3 trillion in extra
(07:02):
assistance and lost taxes.Now, I'm going to say something that's
kind of unkind, but what arewe doing there? We're creating a
welfare state because peoplearen't putting enough away for retirement.
So we need to figure out howto change that dynamic. So let's
talk about how do we do that.I've got a couple of key points that
will help you get that point.Listen, I don't have all the answers.
(07:22):
I'm going to be very candidwith you. It comes down to consistency.
It comes down to really payingattention to things we've talked
about all through thisinvestment series. I've given you
some great ideas. We got toput these things into practice. First
thing, if you don't doanything else, I say bend over and
pick up that hundred dollarbill, Ralph. What is Ralph talking
about? If you work for anemployer where there's a 401k match,
(07:44):
never ever leave that money onthe table. Pick it up, get it, it's
free money. If you're nottaking it, you're a fool. And I don't
like to use that word, buttake the free money, but remember,
it's just a starting line.It's not enough. Hear me on that?
It's not enough. So if you canafford to put more into it. And listen,
I get it. It comes down to abudget issue. It comes down to, Ralph,
(08:07):
there's only so much money in,in the pot here. I get It. But you
got to think about how do Iput more away for retirement? So
start there. The 401k match.If you're fortunate enough to get
beyond the 401k, you're ableto put as much as you can into that
401k. I'm not going to getinto details today. It's a big number,
but let's just say you'reblessed you're able to do that. Once
you get past that match, oneof the things you consider is, is
(08:30):
put money into a Roth and Imay do a show about Roth IRAs in
the future if you go back inthe catalog. All of our shows, by
the way, are atfinanciallyconfidentchristian.com. you
go in there and do a searchand look for Roth iras. I've done
many shows about Roth iras, sogo back and look at those. But after
you get past that match, oneof the things a lot of people are
doing is putting money into aRoth. The reason I like Roths is
they grow tax free. But again,from a. I'm gonna put my tax hat
(08:53):
on for a second. From a taxperspective, it's great that they
grow tax free. But if you'rein your earning years where you're
in that higher tax bracket,listen, Ralph's advice, put more
into the 401k. So contributemore than the match. Aim for that
15%. Listen, if you want me togive you a number that you really
should be aiming for and itmight make you feel a little bit
(09:14):
deflated here, but I'm goingto throw it. It's just coming out
of love. This is honestlycoming out of love. You need to be
thinking of about 15% of yourincome needs to be going into retirement.
So do the math. Every year,whatever your annual income is, 15%
of that is what you reallyneed to be thinking about putting
into retirement. So push thosecontribution limits at work if you
(09:34):
can at least take the match.Now once you've invested those things,
then you can look at someother ideas like brokerage. I'm not
going to get into a lot ofdetails. Remember, these are after
tax accounts. There are thingsthat you can work with a broker to
help you build these things inaddition to the 401k. But if you
are covered by a 401k work. Iknow I probably said this 5 times
already, but I want you tohear this. Do whatever you can in
(09:57):
pre tax dollars. That's whatthe 401k does. That money comes right
off the top for your taxes.I'M wearing my tax hat again. But
it's so critical because thatmoney will multiply because of compounding
a lot quicker. But have a bigpicture view. This is my big takeaway
for today. Have a big pictureview. You're not going to save a
retirement over the nextcouple days. Retirement planning
takes decades. But as DaveRamsey said, don't just do the minimum.
(10:22):
Because let me ask you this,do you want to live a life of just
enough when you retired? Iknow about you, but I don't want
to live like that. Don'tsettle for just enough. And you don't
have to settle for justenough. Let's get to our Bible verse
today. And I found this one inthe book of Ecclesiastes, chapter
11, verse 2. And it's allabout diversification. Invest in
seven ventures, yes. In eight,you do not know what disaster may
(10:44):
come upon the land. Thisreally isn't relative to the idea
of investing in other things,but it does talk about diversification.
And diversification is superimportant as we talk about investment.
So I wanted to give a Bibleverse today because I feel like it's
so important that weunderstand even in this particular
episode we're talking abouttoday, the 401k, the Roth IRA, the
(11:05):
brokerage accounts, those aredifferent ways to fund that. End
of the term, when you get tothat retirement age, you don't want
to live. That just is enoughretirement. How about we pray together
right now, Lord? We just thankyou for the provision you give us
in our lives, Lord. Right nowwe're feeling a little bit empty,
Lord. We're feeling a littlebit short. We realize now that we
(11:25):
may be a little bit behind onour investing, Lord. And we just
ask you to give us wisdomright now, Lord, to plan beyond that
minimum. Help us to reachbeyond that minimum so we don't have
that minimum life. You know,we know that's not what you want
for us, Lord. And we are sograteful for those of us that have
those employer benefits, Lord.And help us to utilize those, Lord,
and to really be disciplinedin that, Lord. Give us the faith
(11:47):
to stay disciplined for thelong haul. We realize that retirement
planning is not a one timething. And we realize that over time
we've got to let these thingsgrow, Lord. So give us the faith
to stay disciplined in that,Lord. And we ask this in confidence
in the name of Jesus. Amen.Well, let me give you your action
plan, today's real simpleaction plan. I want to ask you a
(12:07):
really simple question. Canyou do more? It's really that today,
can you do more? Check yourretirement savings rates. Are you
saving at least to that match?If you are, consider going higher.
Open up that Roth, open upthat broker account. But really ask
yourself this question. Andlike I said, it's not a comfortable
question. Listen, I justturned 53. I've had to ask this question
(12:29):
to myself. And I've really hadto find ways and listen, I got to
scrimp and save on things. ButI realize if I want my retirement
to be more than just enough, Igotta continually ask myself, can
I do more? Well, if you've gota question for this show, just like
the young listener had today,I would encourage you. I love to
answer questions. As younotice, we've been taking sort of
a different approach here withthe format of the episodes lately.
(12:51):
I've really been focusing on alot of questions. I'm getting a lot
of questions in fromlisteners. If you've got a question
for this show, go tojustaskralph.com, you. You can put
your name, email address andput your question there. I would
love to answer your question.I'm not going to share your name
on the show unless you want meto. But it's really super simple.
Just go to justaskralph.comand just give me your question and
I'll answer it on the show.And remember this, the match for
(13:15):
the 401k is a gift. It's abeautiful gift. It's fantastic if
you get that from youremployer. But it's not enough by
itself. So take that gift. Butask yourself, can I do more? And
once you do that, build onthat foundation. Look at Roth iras,
look at more contributions anddiversification. Because here's the
truth. Retirement successcomes from consistent, above average
(13:38):
savings. Remember what I said,that 15%. I know that might scare
you a little bit, but I'msaying that out of love. And I'm
saying that that's what youneed to look at. And just remember,
diligence today createsfreedom. Tomorrow, as we're talking
about tomorrow, tomorrow we'regoing to talk about following up
on investing for those largergoals, those things beyond retirement,
those things that you really,those big dreams that you have. Tomorrow
(13:59):
on the show, I'm going to talkabout how to make those things a
reality. Just remember this.You can do this. You can be a financially
confident Christian. I trulybelieve in you. Believe in yourself.
Stay financially savvy outthere. God bless you and make sure
you join me tomorrow. You havea great day today.
How about we go for a walktoday together? Yes. Bear with me
here a second because it'sgoing to make sense here in a second.
Let's say we're out for awalk. Put your phone away for a second
and just enjoy the nature allaround. You're walking down the sidewalk
and all of a sudden you seesomething on the sidewalk just a
little bit in front of you.You start to think, what is that?
As you get closer like thatlooks like money. You get closer
(00:21):
yet it's a hundred dollar billlaying on the sidewalk. So let me
ask you this question. Do youpick it up? Of course you did. But
what if you didn't? And that'swhat we want to talk about on today's
show. I want to start talkingabout how do we get beyond just investing
in the 401k because truth is,and I'm going to share some statistics
in just a few minutes, ifyou're just investing in your 401k,
(00:44):
I'm hate to tell you this, butit's not going to be enough. And
I got this listener question.This really nails it. It's an awesome
question, Ralph. I'm alreadygetting my employers 401k match.
That's free money. I'm sohappy that they said that. That is
absolutely true. That is freemoney. But they go on, what should
I do beyond that? How do Imake sure I'm saving enough for retirement?
(01:06):
Again, what an awesomequestion. Because the answer is yes,
it's more than just that 3%match. That's not going to be enough.
See, the 401k match is one ofthe best deals in town out there.
It's free money. Absolutelyagree with that. But if you stop
there, you don't at least bendover and pick up that hundred dollar
bill. The truth is, and I hateto tell you this, but it's the truth.
(01:27):
It's set out of love today.The truth is you're probably not
saving enough for retirement.So let's talk about what comes next
to really fund that retirementfor an impactful retirement. And
you don't feel like you'realways scrimping and saving. This
is Financially ConfidentChristian, your daily dose of gospel
grounded insight and faithdriven tips. And to help you break
(01:48):
the cycle of financial shamewith confidence. Hello and welcome
back to the show. My name isRalph and I'm so happy you chose
to join me today. I've workedwith hundreds of clients over the
years maximizing theiremployer plans, building retirement
strategies beyond that 401kmatch. And today I really want to
take a few minutes and talkabout Ralph, what do I do beyond
(02:09):
that? Because there's so manythings that you can do. As we talked
about a little bit, a lot ofemployers, if you're fortunate, you've
got a 401k at work, they'llmatch a certain amount, maybe 3,
4. I've even seen them up to5, 6, 7%. But the problem is in my
practice, and this is a sadpart, I've seen so many people stop
matching at that point they'llsay to me, Ralph, well, I got enough.
(02:32):
I'm putting in what theemployers are. Why should I do more
than that? It's a shortsighted view of this because in the
end, when you get toretirement, I'm going to share some
statistics here in just a fewminutes, when you get to the end,
unfortunately, so many peoplerealize they haven't saved enough.
I'll tell you about a clientthat I worked with. I had a client
one time came and said to me,Ralph, we're maxing out our retirement
(02:53):
because we got that match.That's what they said to me. They
said, Ralph, we're maxing out,we are in good shape. And listen,
I'm not judging them. I usedto think the same thing back before
I started my own practice. Iworked for another business where
I actually had a traditional401k. It seems like ages ago now
as I've been doing this myselffor going on 30 years now. It's hard
to believe it's been thatlong, but so many people think that,
(03:14):
well, I'm maxing out, Ralph.I'm putting in the employer match.
When I sat down with them andI ran the numbers, this is something
I'm going to challenge you todo. It's not a comfortable exercise,
but when we ran the numbers,we found out they were way behind.
And in that particular case,we added a Roth IRA and it changed
our whole trajectory. We'lltalk about how to do some of those
things today. But I love whatDave Ramsey said. I'm not often on
(03:37):
the same page as Dave Ramsey.He has one investment belief, I have
a different one. But Dave saidthis and I 100% agree with this.
The match is great. He alludesto that. I agree with him now, but
it won't make you wealthy byitself. And he I love what he ends
with. If you hear nothing elsethat Ralph says today, what Dave
said nails it. You've got tosave more than the minimum. Well
(04:01):
said, Dave, what do you think?As you're listening Right now. Do
you agree with them? I thinkwe absolutely have to because retirement
is going to cost more than youthink. Here's the statistics. I planned
that. I promise that I willtalk about. Here's the truth. Most
employers match 3 to 6% ofsalary. That's generally the go to
thing that they do. But if youstop there and just do that 3% to
(04:26):
6%, and like I said, 6% is apretty big number. I don't see a
lot of those in the day today. There's a lot of customers,
a lot of people that I workwith, their bosses or their businesses
don't match at all. You mightfind yourself right there. So at
least do the match. But here'sthe thing. They're usually saving
8 to 9% of the total. Buthere's the recommendation. Most financial
(04:46):
gurus, myself included,recommend that you put about 15%
of your annual money away forretirement. You might be saying,
rob, there's no way I'm goingto put 15% away. I'm not saying you're
going to get there today. I'mnot saying you're going to get there
next week or next year. But Ithink in your mind you got to be
thinking about that goal.Because here's the truth. I looked
at this statistic. It wasrather alarming because if you only
(05:10):
do that 3 to 6% where you'reonly putting about 8 to 9% of your
total needed, you're onlygoing to end up without 30 to 60%
of what you need in retirementto retire comfortably. And here's
one, this one actually was asad statistic when I read this, and
this isn't the first time Iheard this, but listen, you need
to hear this for people whoare in ages 55 to 64. So listen,
(05:33):
I'm 53. I'm not far away fromthe beginning point of this particular
statistic. 64, hey, we'regetting ready to retire. But for
those ages 55 to 64, themedian retirement savings means the
middle of that. The averageperson is under $165,000. That's
all they've got saved forretirement, $165,000. Now, the goal,
(05:56):
we talked about thatparticular goal, the goal is between
a half a million and a milliondollars. That's what most households
will need. And we look at thenumbers, that's what most households
will need. You probably say,rob, there's no way I'm going to
get to that. But that's a bigdeal. So if you're younger, it may
Mean, if you're like me inmiddle age, you got to start thinking
about how do I kick this up anotch? How do I get to that point
(06:16):
where I'm going to be able tomake this work? And here's where
the real problem is, theconfidence gap. And when I've read
this, this was really, this isheartbreaking to me. I have a lot
of passion for what I do. Youprobably hear it in my voice every
day. A lot of passion for whatI do. But only 31% of non retirees
say they're on track forretirement savings. Just one third
(06:37):
they might be saying, okay,Ralph, that's too bad for them. Sorry
about that. But here's thesinister part of this. And when I've
read this, think about thisone. Who pays for that shortfall?
Well, guess what? You and Iare paying for that shortfall. And
it's estimated to costgovernments. Listen to this number.
When I've read this number, Iabout fell out of my chair. It's
cost the governments estimatedin 2040 to be $1.3 trillion in extra
(07:02):
assistance and lost taxes.Now, I'm going to say something that's
kind of unkind, but what arewe doing there? We're creating a
welfare state because peoplearen't putting enough away for retirement.
So we need to figure out howto change that dynamic. So let's
talk about how do we do that.I've got a couple of key points that
will help you get that point.Listen, I don't have all the answers.
(07:22):
I'm going to be very candidwith you. It comes down to consistency.
It comes down to really payingattention to things we've talked
about all through thisinvestment series. I've given you
some great ideas. We got toput these things into practice. First
thing, if you don't doanything else, I say bend over and
pick up that hundred dollarbill, Ralph. What is Ralph talking
about? If you work for anemployer where there's a 401k match,
(07:44):
never ever leave that money onthe table. Pick it up, get it, it's
free money. If you're nottaking it, you're a fool. And I don't
like to use that word, buttake the free money, but remember,
it's just a starting line.It's not enough. Hear me on that?
It's not enough. So if you canafford to put more into it. And listen,
I get it. It comes down to abudget issue. It comes down to, Ralph,
(08:07):
there's only so much money in,in the pot here. I get It. But you
got to think about how do Iput more away for retirement? So
start there. The 401k match.If you're fortunate enough to get
beyond the 401k, you're ableto put as much as you can into that
401k. I'm not going to getinto details today. It's a big number,
but let's just say you'reblessed you're able to do that. Once
you get past that match, oneof the things you consider is, is
(08:30):
put money into a Roth and Imay do a show about Roth IRAs in
the future if you go back inthe catalog. All of our shows, by
the way, are atfinanciallyconfidentchristian.com. you
go in there and do a searchand look for Roth iras. I've done
many shows about Roth iras, sogo back and look at those. But after
you get past that match, oneof the things a lot of people are
doing is putting money into aRoth. The reason I like Roths is
they grow tax free. But again,from a. I'm gonna put my tax hat
(08:53):
on for a second. From a taxperspective, it's great that they
grow tax free. But if you'rein your earning years where you're
in that higher tax bracket,listen, Ralph's advice, put more
into the 401k. So contributemore than the match. Aim for that
15%. Listen, if you want me togive you a number that you really
should be aiming for and itmight make you feel a little bit
(09:14):
deflated here, but I'm goingto throw it. It's just coming out
of love. This is honestlycoming out of love. You need to be
thinking of about 15% of yourincome needs to be going into retirement.
So do the math. Every year,whatever your annual income is, 15%
of that is what you reallyneed to be thinking about putting
into retirement. So push thosecontribution limits at work if you
(09:34):
can at least take the match.Now once you've invested those things,
then you can look at someother ideas like brokerage. I'm not
going to get into a lot ofdetails. Remember, these are after
tax accounts. There are thingsthat you can work with a broker to
help you build these things inaddition to the 401k. But if you
are covered by a 401k work. Iknow I probably said this 5 times
already, but I want you tohear this. Do whatever you can in
(09:57):
pre tax dollars. That's whatthe 401k does. That money comes right
off the top for your taxes.I'M wearing my tax hat again. But
it's so critical because thatmoney will multiply because of compounding
a lot quicker. But have a bigpicture view. This is my big takeaway
for today. Have a big pictureview. You're not going to save a
retirement over the nextcouple days. Retirement planning
takes decades. But as DaveRamsey said, don't just do the minimum.
(10:22):
Because let me ask you this,do you want to live a life of just
enough when you retired? Iknow about you, but I don't want
to live like that. Don'tsettle for just enough. And you don't
have to settle for justenough. Let's get to our Bible verse
today. And I found this one inthe book of Ecclesiastes, chapter
11, verse 2. And it's allabout diversification. Invest in
seven ventures, yes. In eight,you do not know what disaster may
(10:44):
come upon the land. Thisreally isn't relative to the idea
of investing in other things,but it does talk about diversification.
And diversification is superimportant as we talk about investment.
So I wanted to give a Bibleverse today because I feel like it's
so important that weunderstand even in this particular
episode we're talking abouttoday, the 401k, the Roth IRA, the
(11:05):
brokerage accounts, those aredifferent ways to fund that. End
of the term, when you get tothat retirement age, you don't want
to live. That just is enoughretirement. How about we pray together
right now, Lord? We just thankyou for the provision you give us
in our lives, Lord. Right nowwe're feeling a little bit empty,
Lord. We're feeling a littlebit short. We realize now that we
(11:25):
may be a little bit behind onour investing, Lord. And we just
ask you to give us wisdomright now, Lord, to plan beyond that
minimum. Help us to reachbeyond that minimum so we don't have
that minimum life. You know,we know that's not what you want
for us, Lord. And we are sograteful for those of us that have
those employer benefits, Lord.And help us to utilize those, Lord,
and to really be disciplinedin that, Lord. Give us the faith
(11:47):
to stay disciplined for thelong haul. We realize that retirement
planning is not a one timething. And we realize that over time
we've got to let these thingsgrow, Lord. So give us the faith
to stay disciplined in that,Lord. And we ask this in confidence
in the name of Jesus. Amen.Well, let me give you your action
plan, today's real simpleaction plan. I want to ask you a
(12:07):
really simple question. Canyou do more? It's really that today,
can you do more? Check yourretirement savings rates. Are you
saving at least to that match?If you are, consider going higher.
Open up that Roth, open upthat broker account. But really ask
yourself this question. Andlike I said, it's not a comfortable
question. Listen, I justturned 53. I've had to ask this question
(12:29):
to myself. And I've really hadto find ways and listen, I got to
scrimp and save on things. ButI realize if I want my retirement
to be more than just enough, Igotta continually ask myself, can
I do more? Well, if you've gota question for this show, just like
the young listener had today,I would encourage you. I love to
answer questions. As younotice, we've been taking sort of
a different approach here withthe format of the episodes lately.
(12:51):
I've really been focusing on alot of questions. I'm getting a lot
of questions in fromlisteners. If you've got a question
for this show, go tojustaskralph.com, you. You can put
your name, email address andput your question there. I would
love to answer your question.I'm not going to share your name
on the show unless you want meto. But it's really super simple.
Just go to justaskralph.comand just give me your question and
I'll answer it on the show.And remember this, the match for
(13:15):
the 401k is a gift. It's abeautiful gift. It's fantastic if
you get that from youremployer. But it's not enough by
itself. So take that gift. Butask yourself, can I do more? And
once you do that, build onthat foundation. Look at Roth iras,
look at more contributions anddiversification. Because here's the
truth. Retirement successcomes from consistent, above average
(13:38):
savings. Remember what I said,that 15%. I know that might scare
you a little bit, but I'msaying that out of love. And I'm
saying that that's what youneed to look at. And just remember,
diligence today createsfreedom. Tomorrow, as we're talking
about tomorrow, tomorrow we'regoing to talk about following up
on investing for those largergoals, those things beyond retirement,
those things that you really,those big dreams that you have. Tomorrow
(13:59):
on the show, I'm going to talkabout how to make those things a
reality. Just remember this.You can do this. You can be a financially
confident Christian. I trulybelieve in you. Believe in yourself.
Stay financially savvy outthere. God bless you and make sure
you join me tomorrow. You havea great day today.
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