3 Plants You Need to be Growing in the Garden of Your Financial Future

In just a few steps, you can start growing a thriving financial garden that will help support the lifestyle you want in retirement.

By Rebecca L. Bennett

Just as a well-tended garden yields a bountiful harvest, cultivating a strong financial future requires careful planning, nurturing and wise investment — even early in your career. To ensure your retirement garden thrives someday, it’s important to establish these three essential “plants” as soon as possible:

Grow Knowledge

Vesting? Compound Interest? 457(b)? Every healthy garden is the result of the gardener understanding how to help it thrive, so if you’re looking to grow a successful financial future, the first thing to do is learn all you can about the principles of personal finance and retirement planning.

Check out our website library and Members page for articles on how your benefits work, personal finance tips and stories from fellow members. Another great way to learn more about TCDRS is by attending a free webinar or scheduling a free online counseling session, where our representatives will walk you through everything you need to know about TCDRS and saving for retirement.

Grow Discipline

As you begin to get a good grasp of what it will take to save up a healthy retirement nest egg, it’s time to start applying that knowledge. The first stop is getting your everyday finances in order through budgeting and saving up a rainy-day fund.

Being disciplined about your finances doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. We have nothing against avocado toast and lattes. But it does mean learning to splurge responsibly and save for expensive adventures like vacations in advance instead of just winging it.

Grow Savings and Investments

The third thing you need to plant in the garden of your financial future is savings and investments. The money in your TCDRS account will grow automatically with every paycheck, so you already have taken care of at least one stream of retirement income, provided you become vested and eligible to retire.

But experts recommend having multiple streams of retirement income. To accomplish this, you can open additional retirement accounts, such as an Individual Retirement Account (IRA), and check with your employer to see if they offer a 401(k) or 457(b) plan. Consider setting up automatic transfers so you won’t be tempted to stop depositing and miss out on the power of compound interest. You could also look at moving your regular savings into a high-yield savings account so it will keep growing, too.

In just a few steps, you can start growing a thriving garden that will help support the lifestyle you want in retirement. Happy gardening!

Personal Finance