N.A.R.V.R.E. Guide to Saving for Retirement Early

At the National Association of Retired and Veteran Railway Employees or otherwise known as N.A.R.V.R.E., our goal is to protect our members retirement benefits. We keep you abreast of any legislative proposals in Washington D.C. and then fight to keep your benefits from being changed. Another goal is to help you achieve and understand your retirement benefits. This article aims to guide you towards saving for retirement early and efficiently without breaking the bank. Therefore, we have compiled a list of tips on saving early for your retirement later. The tips are as follows: 

1. Start saving for retirement today. If you go ahead and get started, you will be compounding interest. It is never too early to start saving money, even if your contribution is minimal, it still helps. When you make your assets work for you, you will generate an additional profit. 

2. You can likely contribute pre-tax money if you have a 401K set up. If you contribute $100 per pay period, your take-home pay only decreases by $88. This way, it doesn’t hurt your bottom line as much. 

3. Does your employer match 401K? If so, take advantage of this savings? It is basically free money. Please don’t leave it behind. 

4. Open an I.R.A., an Individual Retirement Account, to help build your nest egg. If the railway doesn’t offer 401K, and your wife’s job also does not, it is essential you have a separate account set up for retirement funds. Sometimes I.R.A. contributions are limited, but after age 50, you can go beyond the usual limitations and make catch-up contributions. 

5. Automatically have money deducted from your savings. You can set it up for as little or as much as you would like. It is less likely to hurt your current checking account if you set up a portion of your savings to go directly to a retirement account each pay period or at minimal, once a month. 

6. Reduce Spending. Figure out ways you can cut your spending. This might mean developing new spending habits or may be as easy as negotiating a lower car rate for insurance. Take the money you save and start investing. 

7. Stash any extra funds. Did you get a raise recently, yet you were comfortably paying your bills before that raise? Set aside that increase in pay and invest it into your retirement account. 

Knowing the need to save for retirement and taking the proper steps, goes a long way towards achieving your retirement goals. We listed a helpful retirement calculator in an earlier post on our website. The calculator lets you know how much you will need to retire and still live comfortably. If you are a railroad employee or veteran, we encourage you to join N.A.R.V.R.E. today.

We give you the peace of mind you need to know that the money you set aside for your retirement while employed with the railroad is safe and secure. Our nation is going through a stressful period causing people to worry their social security could be affected, but we at N.A.R.V.R.E. do our best to make sure nothing happens to your hard-earned railroad retirement money. You can get more information on or N.A.R.V.R.E. Facebook page about joining. We hope to see you in your assigned meeting soon. 

Source moneyworks.com, Forbes.com