Читать книгу More Straight Talk on Investing - John J. Brennan - Страница 42

Many employers will automatically enroll you in the company 401(k), which is a good thing, since inertia precludes some individuals from signing up on their own. Automatic enrollments get workers in plans and help them begin saving at the outset of employment. However, many employers will automatically set your contribution rate at 3%, which is a bad thing. Nearly 40% of Vanguard plans have a default rate for contributions at 3%, which I believe is too low. You should set your sights on saving 10%–12%. Add to that the typical 3% match from your employer, and you are putting away a healthy 13%–15% of your take-home pay into a tax-advantaged account. If you join a company that features a 401(k) plan, be sure to check the default rate and increase it if necessary—even if the plan offers an auto-escalation feature that increases your savings rate each year.

Here's a strategy I frequently recommend as a very easy way to build a retirement program, and I'll use one of my colleagues, Jane, to demonstrate. When Jane began working at Vanguard, she contributed to the 401(k) plan at a level to receive the company matching contribution. Then, she gradually increased her savings rate by funneling an amount equivalent to half of each annual salary raise into her 401(k) until she reached the maximum allowable contribution. (Jane believed she could do this because her living costs hadn't increased just because she'd received a raise. Most people should take the same point of view.) By continuing to pump money into her retirement plan at that level, Jane accumulated an impressive sum of money over her 30-year career. It takes discipline not to use all of that salary increase for immediate gratification, but in time you won't miss that “extra” money and will be better served in the long run by earmarking it for retirement.

There are three great advantages to saving through an employer plan. First, your contributions will accumulate on a tax-advantaged basis. Second, the process keeps you saving without any effort of your own. You don't have to make yourself transfer money or write any checks, and you won't be tempted to spend the money before “paying yourself” first. Third, you will be investing a regular amount on a regular basis, a prudent and effective strategy known as dollar-cost averaging. (I'll discuss this strategy several times throughout the book.)

Plenty of ordinary people are saving an unbelievable amount of money through employer-sponsored retirement plans. In the 401(k) plans managed by Vanguard in 2019, there are more than 62,000 individuals who are millionaires. And thousands of other ordinary people are on the way to amassing extraordinary wealth.