To save more for retirement, first track the wasteful expenditures
A reader wants the nitty-gritty of savings. He writes:
I don't plan on retiring. I don't have enough money saved and believe retirement is the path to early death (too much time with nothing to do). We all know we aren't saving enough even though we deny it. We may feel guilty and may wish we could save, but there simply isn't enough income. OK, there is a way to do it but few of us are prepared for the sacrifices. Your columns need to focus on how to save.
I'm all for keeping active and continuing to work in retirement. But retirement the way most baby boomers want it -- a mix of part-time work for pay, volunteer work and travel, more time for hobbies and family, according to numerous studies -- demands considerable savings.
So, the idea of continuing to work full time past traditional retirement age ``is at odds with many boomers' interests, values, and priorities," said Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute.
And surveys by the Employee Benefit Research Institute have consistently found that 40 percent of Americans quit work before they want to, mostly because of health problems or job cuts. Could you be one of them?
I also challenge your assumption that savings entail major sacrifices. Many people could save all they need simply by cutting out the waste.
Start by tracking everything you spend for at least three months (and I mean everything). Then, determine whether the expenditure was (a) necessary, (b) not necessary but worth it, (c) an extravagance you could ill afford, or (d) an outright waste.
To find the (d)'s take a look in your closets, garage and elsewhere for stuff you rarely use. Then don't buy any more!
There are countless other ways to save (beyond the standard advice of funding your retirement plans). Here are just a few:
If you have credit card debt, make it a priority to pay it off, beginning with the card that charges the highest interest rate.
Don't throw gas money away. Combine trips, don't speed, and keep tires properly inflated.
Cut out the soda, candy bars, and other empty calories.
If you smoke, quit. You'll save on cigarettes, healthcare costs, and life insurance.
Don't let any insurance policy renew without first shopping around with competitors.
If you can't bear to cut down on eating out, go out to lunch rather than dinner. Don't be shy about asking for doggy bags.
Make frequent use of your public library's books, DVDs, and music CDs.
Cancel subscriptions to publications you don't read or cable channels you don't' watch. Ditto for health club memberships you don't use.
If you're a technophile, review the cost in both time and money of acquiring (and keeping running) the electronic gadgets in your life.
Where is the sacrifice? You do have to make choices, as Kay Jones of Arizona and her then 5-year-old granddaughter, Tori, did when Jones took her to the movies for the first time a few years ago.
``I told her we had to pay to get into the movie and we could buy popcorn and sodas, and all our money would be gone," Jones said. ``We could also just see the movie and go out to a restaurant afterwards for pizza. Or we could just see the movie and go to the store, buy a pizza, soda, and ice cream and rent another movie to watch at home."
Tori -- a natural saver, it seems -- chose option three.
Our lack of retirement readiness is fixable, ``but there has to be a change in behavior," said Van Harlow, president of Strategic Advisors Inc., a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments. (In other words, we have to rein in our spending.) A Fidelity survey found that, on average, US workers are on track to replace only 57 percent of their pre-retirement income once they retire, short of the 85 percent Fidelity and many planners consider reasonable.
Humberto Cruz is a columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 
