3 Ways to Win the Retirement Planning Game

Getty Images When you speak to investors on a daily basis -- as I used to -- you often get to see the seedy underbelly of their retirement planning, or lack thereof. From those who were not saving for retirement because they didn't trust the stock market to those who were struggling with paying off debt, many people I spoke with had allowed circumstances to hold them back from properly preparing for life after work. My experience is not unique: Statistics show that 36 percent of Americans have nothing saved for retirement, and the average retirement savings of a 50-year-old is just over $43,000. As a former stockbroker, I've been asked often how to succeed at retirement planning, and I usually offered the tips below. 1. Don't Let Your Starting Amount Hold You Back One of the most common beliefs with investing for retirement is that you need to start with a lot of money. Of course, having more is better, but starting with less should not hold you back. When you delay your retirement planning, you lose out on the biggest ally -- time. Think of saving for retirement as a marathon, not a sprint. It's less important to get a fast start out and more important that you pace yourself for the long haul. If you start to invest with little money now, you will develop a discipline that will help your retirement planning in the long run and give your money more time to grow. Many online brokerages have minimum opening account balances of $1,000 or less. Less traditional, though still good, options like ShareBuilder from Capital One (COF) or Motif Investing allow you to start investing for as little as $250. 2. Be Cheap About Fees Among the biggest impediments to building up your retirement nest egg are fees, such as the commissions associated with buying and selling individual stocks, or the "load" and management fees charged by mutual funds or exchange-traded funds.