:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/parent-8f20fe866e524f1eba5af15a46a4630b.jpg)
| Retirement plan | Offered by |
| 401(k) Plan | Private-sector companies |
| 403(b) Tax-Sheltered Annuity Plan | Public schools, churches, and 501(c)(3) charitable organizations |
| 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan | State and local governments, tax-exempt non-governmental 501 entities |
These plans have plenty of similarities, despite being offered by different types of employers. For example, they both offer traditional or Roth contributions, which differ when it comes to their tax advantages.
- Traditional: Contributions are withdrawn pre-tax, reducing your taxable income for the current year. Money grows tax-deferred in your account, and withdrawals are subject to ordinary income taxes.
- Roth: Contributions are made with income that’s already been taxed. Money grows tax-free in your account and can be withdrawn tax-free during retirement.
These employer-sponsored retirement plans are also similar in their contribution limits. For all three accounts, you can contribute up to $22,500 per year for 2023. The limit increases to $23,000 for 2024. All three plans also allow your employer to make contributions on your behalf.
Individual retirement accounts
An individual retirement account (IRA) is a type of account you open on your own through a brokerage firm rather than through an employer. Like a 401(k) or another employer-sponsored plan, you can choose between traditional or Roth contributions. In 2023, you can only contribute $6,500. The limit increases to $7,000 in 2024.
It’s also worth noting there are some restrictions with IRAs that don’t exist for employer-sponsored retirement plans. If your income is too high, you may be prohibited from deducting your traditional IRA contributions or from contributing to a Roth IRA.
Self-employed retirement plans
There are several types of retirement plans specifically designed for self-employed individuals and/or small business owners. You can use these accounts if you have your own business, even if you also have full-time employment with access to a retirement account.
- SEP IRA: A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA allows business owners to contribute up to 25% of their pay to a pre-tax retirement account. However, if you contribute to your own account and have employees, you must also contribute the same percentage to their plans.
- Solo 401(k): Officially known as a one-participant 401(k), this plan works similarly to any other 401(k). You can only use it if you have no employees other than you or your spouse, but can contribute up to $66,000 in 2023 ($22,500 as your employee elective deferral and up to 25% of your compensation as your employer contribution). In 2024, the limit increases to $69,000 and $23,000, respectively.
2. Take Advantage of Employer-Sponsored Retirement Accounts
There are several factors that make employer-sponsored retirement accounts such an attractive option for retirement savings.
First, employer-sponsored retirement accounts have far higher contribution limits than an IRA that you could open on your own. In 2024, you can contribute up to $23,000 to your 401(k) but only $7,000 to your IRA. These higher limits can help you reach your retirement goals more quickly. Contributing up to the maximum can be part of a plan to help you achieve early retirement or a more luxurious lifestyle in retirement.
Another common perk of employer-sponsored accounts is they may come with matching contributions from your employer. Many companies will match an employee’s contribution up to a certain percentage of their salary. For example, a company might match your 401(k) contributions at a rate of 50% up to 6% of your pay or at a rate of 100% up to 3% of your salary.
“If your employer offers a 401(k) match, take it – otherwise you’re leaving free money on the table,” Steve Sexton, CEO of Sexton Advisory Group in Temecula, Calif., told Investopedia. “Your employer match can give you a leg up on your retirement savings plan and bring you closer to your financial goals faster.”
Note
Some companies also offer non-matching contributions. In other words, your employer may contribute a certain percentage of your salary to your 401(k) or a similar plan, regardless of whether you’ve made a contribution.
3. Automate Your Retirement Contributions
Automating your retirement contributions is the simplest way to ensure you reach your investment goals each month. Automation has a few distinct benefits.
First, automating your retirement contributions ensures your contributions will happen consistently. It’s easy to delay contributing and use the money for other purposes if you don’t automate your savings. When your contributions are automated, there’s no more action required on your part. “It allows you to ‘set it and forget it,’ minimizing the amount of tasks around your financial responsibilities every month,” says Sexton.
Automation also makes it easy to plan your annual contributions ahead of time. Let’s say you know you want to max out your 401(k) contributions for the year. You could set up automatic contributions of $1917 per month and know that by the end of the year, you’ll have contributed the maximum of $23,000.
4. Create an Emergency Fund
Having a well-funded emergency fund can directly affect your ability to reach your retirement goals.
“It is important to realize that unexpected expenses will occur throughout your life, including retirement,” says Sexton.
First, your emergency fund helps you avoid disruptions to your finances that could derail your retirement savings efforts. You can use your emergency fund to cover an unexpected expense like a medical bill or car repair rather than divert money that would have otherwise gone into your retirement account.
An emergency fund can also help you avoid having to withdraw money from your retirement account, either as an early withdrawal or a loan. Retirement withdrawals and loans have some financial consequences, including taxes, penalties, and/or interest. And, of course, money that is no longer invested will no longer grow.
“Not only can [an emergency fund] lessen the financial blow of an unexpected life event – like a medical diagnosis or an accident – it can also prevent you from accumulating debt in your golden years,” says Sexton.
Many financial experts recommend setting aside between three and six months’ worth of expenses. Sexton recommends checking in with it twice per year to ensure it’s updated for lifestyle adjustments and inflation.
5. Use the Power of Compounding
Investing early and often is about both the amount of money you’ll be able to contribute to your retirement accounts and also how much that money can earn. When you start saving for retirement earlier, you can take advantage of the power of compounding. Compounding is when the money you’ve invested earns money, and then the money you’ve earned also begins to earn money.
Here’s an example of how compounding works:
Let’s say you contribute $500 per month starting at age 25 until you retire at age 65. If you put that money into a bank account that doesn’t earn interest, you would save $240,000 in your 40 years of saving. But what if you had invested that money instead?
Let’s say you put that same $500 per month into a retirement account that earned an average annual return of 8%. At the end of the 40 years, you would have amassed savings of more than $1.5 million.
Compounding can benefit you at any time during your working life, but starting to save in your 20s and 30s will give you an advantage over saving later, as your money has more time to grow and compound than it does if you wait until your 40s or 50s to start investing.
Is it Better to Start Saving for Retirement at 25 or 35?
The earlier you can start saving for retirement, the better. If you can set aside money when you are 25, you can use the power of compounding for an extra 10 years compared to if you started saving at age 35.
Is 35 Too Late to Start a Roth IRA?
You can open a Roth IRA when you are 35 and begin contributing to it. It is not too late to start a Roth IRA at 35. Your contributions will be made with after-tax dollars and then you can withdraw your money, including any gains you made, in your retirement years.
How Much Should a 25-year-old Have in Retirement?
How much you should have saved for retirement at any given age depends on your financial goals and current financial situation. Some experts recommend setting aside at least 15% of your income each year.
The Bottom Line
If you’re a 25- to 34-year-old saving for retirement, you have a good start to building your nest egg. Now that you’ve taken that important step of saving, you can use a few strategies like automating your investments, building an emergency fund, and taking advantage of your employee perks to stay on track to reach your retirement goals.