There have been an untold number of articles about saving for retirement. They all can be sifted down to a very few conclusions and recommendations. First, almost all of us are saving far too little and underestimate the amount of money we need to retire. Few understand that there will be unexpected costs and that there will be a large need for money to pay for out-of-pocket medical procedures not covered by medical in our retirement years.

The solution is simple just very difficult to implement. Save more, and faster! One golden rule I think that can apply and be implemented that would solve a lot of the underfunding problem is to ‘spend less than you earn and invest the rest’. That means at least spend 10% less than you earn and invest it over long periods in the stock market. As you approach retirement become more conservative but always have some exposure to good solid dividend paying stocks.