How to Boost Your Retirement Savings -- No Matter Your Age

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The expected retirement age in the U.S. is 66, according to Guardian Life. However, millions of us aren't able to stay on the job that long, and the average retirement age is actually 61. For those who leave the workforce earlier than expected, there are immediate financial concerns, the most pressing being how to stretch a retirement budget .

No matter how old you are today, it may ease your mind to know there are steps you can take to boost your retirement savings. Whether or not you work until full retirement age will matter less if you know there's plenty of money put away to cover your retirement expenses.

Free up a few dollars

If you've studied your household budget and can't imagine where you could possibly squeeze another dollar out for retirement savings, you're not alone. A CNBC poll surveyed just shy of 500 people, with 65% claiming to live paycheck to paycheck.

If your budget is already tight, here are a few simple ways to free up a little money:

• Cancel subscriptions you no longer use or need: You can quickly cancel an unused gym membership, streaming channel, podcast subscription, magazine subscription, or grooming box subscription.
• Pay off high-interest debt : Once monthly payments on a credit card or personal loan are paid off, dedicate that money to retirement savings.
• Use cash: Promise yourself that you'll only purchase something if you have enough money to cover the cost. Doing so prevents you from slipping into debt.
• Meal plan, use a shopping list, and order groceries online: Creating a weekly meal plan allows you to build a shopping list based only on what you require for the week. Ordering groceries online means making fewer impulse purchases.
• Consolidate debt: If your credit score is high enough to land a personal loan at a reasonable interest rate, use that loan to pay off all high-interest debt. You'll be left with a single monthly payment rather than several, and you'll save money on interest.

Let compound interest do its thing

Let's say eating out less often, ordering groceries online, and canceling a subscription service or two frees up $75 every month. Immediately put that money to work. If you were to put those funds into a traditional or Roth IRA earning an average annual return of 7%, here's how much they would be worth in the future:

These kinds of results can be accomplished by only investing $75 per month. Imagine how much they could balloon if you slowly added more over the years.

Take advantage of "free" money

There's nothing simpler than taking advantage of an employer match. If your employer offers a 401(k) or other retirement savings program and offers to match a portion of your contribution, it's basically free money.

Let's say you earn $50,000 a year, and your employer offers to match up to 3% of your annual salary. If you contribute at least 3% ($1,500) to the retirement plan, your employer will add another 3% for a total annual contribution of $3,000.

If you're not contributing to a company retirement plan, you may believe you need the money now, and that's fair. However, most retirement plans involve tax-deferred contributions, so your paychecks won't shrink as much as expected. If you contribute $1,500 toward your employer 401(k), that's $1,500 in income that won't be taxed.

Automate

One of the most common pieces of personal finance advice is to automate your savings. Humans crave immediate gratification. Due to a thought process called "the present bias," we want to do the thing that immediately makes our present selves feel good.

For example, when we're faced with the opportunity to invest for the future or spend money on something we want right now, we're likely to make the choice that makes us feel good at the moment. The further into the future the other choice might benefit us, the less important it seems today.

In other words, we're hardwired to spend our money now rather than put it away for the future. Although we logically understand that planning for the future is necessary, we tend to give in to immediate cravings.

Whether it's contributions to a retirement plan or transfers from each paycheck into savings, automating removes the present bias by eliminating the need to choose between spending and saving.

It doesn't matter how far away you are from retirement. The goal is to plan for it as though it's right around the corner.

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