Saving enough for retirement can be a struggle. And if your goal is not just to get your way, but to retire wealthy, you need to do a lot more than invest 10% of your income for your later years.

The good news is that there are a few tactics you can try to maximize your chances of getting in good financial shape when you're ready to leave the world of work. Check out these three unusual techniques that the Motley Fool retirement experts believe can help you retire rich.

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Maximize your 401 (k) posts

Katie Brockmann: Contributing to your 401 (k) is one of the best ways to save for retirement, and if your employer offers them, you could be saving more money than you might think.

Matching contributions are essentially free money. So if you don't save enough to earn the full match, leave cash on the table. Over time, that unclaimed money could amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.

For example, let's say you make $ 50,000 a year and your employer pays your 401 (k) contributions up to 3% of your salary. That's $ 1,500 a year. Let's also assume that you have an average annual return of 8% on your investments.

After 20 years, that $ 1,500 per year would be more than $ 68,000. In 40 years you would have nearly $ 390,000. This is also just the employer match. If you take into account your own contributions in addition to the game, you would have at least twice as much.

Even if you are already saving some cash on your 401 (k), you could still be missing out if you don't contribute enough to deserve the entire match from your employer.

In the example above, let's say you are already saving $ 1,000 a year, which is the same as your employer. But you're still missing out on that extra $ 500 a year in matching contributions. Assuming you are still getting an average annual return of 8%, then after 40 years, $ 500 per year will be about $ 130,000.

Also, keep in mind that as you age, your salary is likely to increase. Since most employers pool their savings up to a percentage of a worker's wages, the more you earn, the more you can earn in contributions.

Saving for retirement is difficult, especially when money is tight. But if you take full advantage of your 401 (k) match, it will be easier for you to withdraw.

Buy real estate

Maurie Backmann: You will often hear that exhausting a retirement plan and investing in stocks are great ways to grow your wealth for your senior years. But there are investments to look at outside of stocks and one to consider is real estate.

Real estate has a tendency to increase in value over time and you can use it as an investment in a number of different ways. First, you could buy real estate in disarray, fix it, and then sell it for a profit. It's a tactic known as house flipping that is a great way to make money.

Another option is to buy a home and use it as an income property, where you rent it out for many years and use your tenants' money to not only cover your mortgage but otherwise invest. The advantage of going down this route is that you can own a home for decades so you can potentially sell it for a profit by the time you retire and get away with lots of money for your final years.

Of course, there is another option to consider if you don't want to own physical property but have the idea of ​​investing in real estate. You can buy REITs or real estate investment trusts. REITs are companies that own or operate real estate, and there are several types that you can look at. For example, industrial REITs buy up warehouses and distribution centers. Hospitality REITs usually have portfolios full of hotels. And entertainment REITs could own movie theaters and concert halls.

As a REIT holder, you are entitled to dividends, just as you would receive dividends from owning certain stocks. This way, you can get involved in real estate without the risk of owning and maintaining physical properties.

Save $ 100 every week of your career

Christy Bieber: Most people work for decades but end up with the money they would need to retire rich because they are not saving enough of their hard-earned cash. If your goal is to automatically invest $ 100 in a retirement account every week, you don't have this problem.

A $ 100 weekly investment would add up to $ 5,200 a year. If you were to contribute that amount to savings each year over a typical 40-year career and have an average annual return of 8%, you would have over $ 1.34 million when you retire. By most people's definition, that's enough to be rich.

The key here, however, is consistency. You need to start saving your $ 100 per week early and you need to do this every week so your wealth can grow over time while your money works for you. This can be difficult to do early in your career when you are not making a lot of money. You may even need to consider a part-time job or work overtime to free up the extra $ 100 for retirement. Or, you may have to cut back on luxuries such as alfresco dining.

But if you make the commitment and set up automatic transfers of $ 100 every weekly payday (or $ 200 if you get paid biweekly) the payout will be great.

source https://seapointrealtors.com/2021/08/07/3-unusual-tactics-to-retire-wealthy/

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