The NY TImes has reported that 75% of Americans have less than $30,000 saved in their retirement accounts. Hewitt Associates says that 4 out of 5 American workers haven’t saved enough for all of their financial needs in retirement. A recent survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that only 42% of Americans have tried to calculate the amount of money that they will need to have set aside for retirement. We are hiding our heads in the sand when it comes to retirement planning. In this episode of “Your Money: Your Choices”, I interview Dana Anspach who is the the author of “Control Your Retirement Destiny – Financial Security Before The Big Transition”. We cover a wide range of topics on the show such calculating your retirement needs, how big your nest egg needs to be, not leaving money for your children in your will, spending plans, whether Social Security will be there for us, and a host of other topics. It is a great conversation that you won’t want to miss.

Additionally, I talk to Ben Feldman and Shannon McNay from Ready For Zero about how to get out of debt. Ready For Zero is an only community that helps users take back control of their debt. It is not a debt consolidation website. It is instead a free website with a smart phone app and a user base who help you understand and plan a way to pay off all of your consumer loan debt such as credit cards and student loans. In the United States, Americans manage over $2.5 trillion in personal debt on their own. Reducing debt and building wealth are common financial goals that affect more than 144 million Americans, and Ready For Zero is a website to monitor your debts, plan a way to pay them off, and a community for support.