Is Your Retirement Account Lagging? Realistic Steps to Help You Catch Up.

"The best time to begin saving for retirement was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today."

If that oft-repeated sentiment causes an involuntary eye roll, join the club. There was a time about 17 years ago when I thought I would scream if I heard it one more time. After all, those of us who've fallen behind in contributions to a retirement plan know we should have had all our ducks in a row earlier. We don't need to be reminded.

Here's what worked for my husband and me.

Image source: Getty Images.

Jettison old debt

A combination of losses during the Great Recession, a life-altering illness, and two start-up companies that never quite got off the ground left us deeply in debt. It became crystal clear that we weren't going to get anywhere until we got rid of it.

The most difficult part of getting rid of old debt was accepting that it would take several years of concentrated effort to pay off the credit cards we'd used to pay some of the earliest medical bills. Still, there was absolutely no way we could afford to build our retirement account until we got rid of debt.

Ramp up investments

We didn't dive in all at once; rather, we made incremental contributions to a 401(k). We started out with enough to take advantage of the company match offered by my husband's employer, and increased the amount annually.

Many aim for a 1% annual increase. However, we found we didn't miss the pretax dollars nearly as much as we thought we would and picked up the pace. It didn't take long to max out contributions to my husband's 401(k) and open one of my own.

Reduce other expenses strategically

One reason 401(k) contributions didn't pinch as much as we feared was that I took obsessive control over our major monthly expenses. For example, we:

• Moved from a (very) high-cost-of-living area of the country back to the Midwest, where we bought a far more modest home than we qualified for.
• Committed to driving our cars until the wheels fell off. That meant doing all routine maintenance and catching small issues before they grew into larger problems.
• Began to carefully audit all recurring charges and cancel any we could live without.
• Negotiated better rates on phone, cable, and internet.
• Annually reviewed our auto and homeowners insurance to ensure we were getting the best possible price (this trick has saved us thousands over the years).
• Decided that my husband would work until age 70 to maximize Social Security benefits and give us more time to save and invest.

Forget about the Joneses

Maybe it was the sense that we'd hit rock bottom that changed the way we thought, but we decided we didn't care what anyone else thought of where we lived, what we drove, or how careful we were with money.

Our family was healthy, we both had jobs we loved, and what anyone else expected of us was their issue.

The truth is -- depending on your age -- you may not retire with millions put away. However, by following a strategic plan, you are likely to find yourself with far more in retirement than you expected.

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