Wednesday was payday and I was able to put $1,418 towards my retirement contribution goals for the year! My goal for the year was to contribute $10,500 towards retirement this year. I only have $1,382 left to contribute in 2018. I should be able to finish this off in September (fingers crossed that Murphy does not pay me a visit).
In case you were wondering (and I would because I am a nerd ), I have been tracking my retirement contributions for the year. They are as follows:
1/15/18 $1,390
2/15/18 $610
3/15/18 $1,270
4/16/18 $765
4/27/18 $55
5/11/18 $55
5/15/18 $1,355
6/15/18 $1,000
7/1/18 $100
7/12/18 $25
7/16/18 $1,000
7/25/18 $25
7/30/18 $50
8/15/18 $1,418
I have already been thinking about how much I should contribute to retirement for next year. I can't decide if I want to do $11,000 or $11,500. I'm leaning towards $11,500 because well... more is better. $10,500 is a little over 15% of my take home pay, but I really want to get to 15% of my gross pay which is around $13,000.
What percentage of your take home pay or gross pay do you contribute to retirement?
Right now, I am struggling with paying my debt off, so I put 5% in my Traditional TSP (401k) and 5% in my Roth TSP (401k). I also get a match up to 5%, so I'm putting about 15% in. All of my debts are under 5%, so I feel like I need to be investing right now, and balancing the debt pay-off.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're doing great!
15% is awesome. It seems to be the norm for retirement contributions from what I’ve read. I’m always so jealous of people who have access to 401ks through work. Even more so of the ones who get a match! Great job!
DeleteIn Australia our employers have to contribute 9.5% of our income to retirement, then I contribute $200 per week as well pre-tax and usually $50 post tax which is approx 25% of my take home pay. I'm hoping to contribute more next year when I get the mortgage a bit lower.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I didn’t know that Australia had a mandatory retirement contribution. That’s great for so many people who otherwise wouldn’t save. Good for you getting to 25%!!!!
DeleteWe are contributing 7% of my husband's gross pay into his 401, with his company adding an additional 3%. I am contributing 6% of my gross into my 457 plus an additional $100/month. My workplace contributes 6%. Once our debt (minus our house) is paid off, we will up Hub's retirement to at least 15% plus look into doing a Roth.
ReplyDeleteThat’s awesome! I think it’s so smart to continue contributing to retirement while paying off debt. Plus the workplace contributions must be so nice!!
DeleteCongrats on increasing your retirement savings! Your future self will thank you.
ReplyDeleteFor me it has varied, but thanks to my recent raise, I'd say now I'm on track to save 19% of gross (not including employer match) and 25% including employer match.
At my age and being single, there is NO WAY I would even think about postponing retirement savings until I'm out of debt. Yeah, I agree that it's good to do both at the same time.