I have failed at SO many goals.
It’s not that I haven’t approached goal setting with enthusiasm or a good plan. Every New Year’s Day for the last 10 years I could be found mapping out educational, physical, professional, and social goals for my own betterment, but the results have been lackluster at best:
Do ten consecutive pull-ups by July (Pffft! Not even, I’m still a weakling)
Thinking about setting up a 401(k) for your future retirement needs can feel daunting, especially will all the other pressures that come with starting a new job - pleasing your new boss, learning the “politics” of the workplace, and perhaps you’ve purchased a new home in your new city. All these worries can quickly put your 401(k) on the back burner.
When I was kid, my bedroom was usually a complete disaster. Clothes strewn across the floor, a dirty pillowcase, unwashed bed sheets, an old cereal bowl with a small remaining circle of near-petrified milk. It’s not that I wanted it to be this way, but when my high school pea-brain contemplated tidying up, I was quickly distracted by the next song on my Toad the Wet Sprocket CD.
A 401(k) is a powerful tool to help you build wealth. To use it successfully you need to understand all of its working innards. By now you probably know some basic characteristics of a 401(k). Your 401(k) is like a special holding cell for your wealth. To simplify things, you can look at this holding cell as having four specific properties.