J • RUBY, WILDING & SWANSBURG So, before we begin, let me say: I am talki ng to yo u, I promise. If you’re like the vast majority of savers today, no matter how smart you are, you’re saving under the old rules. The Old Rules of Retirement Saving Save through your employer. Invest in the market. Defer your t axes. Lots of today’s common savings rules were created for a fa r different k ind of saver. They were created for savers like my Uncle Irwin. Irwin would be eighty-eight t his year, and he did something that is pretty foreign to most people reading this book: He worked for the same company his entire career. Irwin worked his way up the ranks, fro m salesman to management and finally to the senior leadership team. As a reward for h is deca des of loyalt y, when Irwin retired, his company gave hi m a pension. During his lat er work ing yea rs, he al so sa ved in a 401(k ), w hich his company matched handsomely. The current rul es of sa ving w ere creat ed for peopl e lik e Ir win. They wer e created for a time when employers shouldered most of the financial commitment for an employee’s retirement fund, either through pensions or high 401(k) matches. My uncle didn’t contribute much to his retirement accounts: his pension was entirely funded by his compan y, and his 401(k ) w as heavil y sub sidized b y his employer. Most of his annual salary went to daily use, not long-ter m savings. If you’r e read ing this book and you have a pens ion like Ir win, good f or you! Keep on saving und er the old r ules.
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