Dear Liz: What are your recommendations for a recent dental school graduate, now practicing in California, who has about $250,000 of dental school loans to pay off but who also knows the importance of starting to save for retirement?

Answer: If youre the graduate, congratulations. Your debt load is obviously significant, but so is your earning potential. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the median pay for dentists nationwide is more than $150,000 a year. The range in California is typically $154,712 to $202,602, according to Salary.com.

Ideally, you wouldnt have borrowed more in total than you expected to earn your first year on the job. That would have made it possible to pay off the debt within 10 years without stinting on other goals. A more realistic plan now is to repay your loans over 20 years or so. That will lower your monthly payment to a more manageable level, although it will increase the total interest you pay. If you cant afford to make the payments right now on a 20-year plan, investigate income-based repayment plans, such as Pay As You Earn (PAYE) or Revised Pay As You Earn (REPAYE), for your federal student loans.

Like other graduates, youd be wise to start saving for retirement now rather than waiting until your debt is gone. The longer you wait to start, the harder it is to catch up, and youll have missed all the tax breaks, company matches and tax-deferred compounding you could have earned.

Also be sure to buy long-term disability insurance, even though it may be expensive. Losing your livelihood would be catastrophic, since you would still owe the education debt, which typically cant be erased in bankruptcy.

Dear Liz: In a recent column, you mentioned that Medicare Part A is free, but that requires 40 quarters (or 10 years) of U.S. employment to qualify. There are, unfortunately, many of us with offshore employment who have found this out too late. Even if one has worked in a country with a tax treaty with the U.S. that allows you to transfer pension credits to Social Security, that will not allow you to qualify for Medicare. I think it would have been very helpful if I had known this about 10 years ago!

Answer: Medicare is typically premium-free, because the vast majority of people who get Medicare Part A either worked long enough to accrue the necessary quarters or have a spouse or ex-spouse who did. (Similar to Social Security, the marriage must have lasted at least 10 years for divorced spouses to have access to Medicare based on an ex-spouses record.)

But of course there are exceptions, and youre one of them. People who dont accrue the necessary quarters typically can pay premiums to get Part A coverage if they are age 65 or older and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. The standard monthly premium for Part A is $437 for people who paid Medicare taxes for less than 30 quarters and $240 for those with 30 to 39 quarters.

Dear Liz: You recently indicated that restricted applications for Social Security spousal benefits are no longer available to people born on or after Jan. 2, 1954. Who is responsible for this change, and when was that enacted? Is there any way it can be reversed?

Answer: Congress is unlikely to revive what was widely seen as a loophole that allowed some people to take spousal benefits while their own benefits continued to grow.

Congress changed the rules with the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. As is typical with Social Security, the change didnt affect people who were already at or near typical retirement age. So people who were 62 or older in 2015 are still allowed to file restricted applications when they reach their full retirement age of 66. They can collect spousal benefits while their own benefits accrue delayed retirement credits, as long as the other spouse is receiving his or her own retirement benefit. (Congress also ended file and suspend, which would have allowed one spouse to trigger benefits for the other without starting his or her own benefit.)

Liz Weston, Certified Financial Planner, is a personal finance columnist for NerdWallet. Questions may be sent to her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or by using the Contact form at asklizweston.com.

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Should you pay off student loans or save for retirement? Both, and heres why - Los Angeles Times

Whats on your bucket list? Some people want to visit the Taj Mahal, float along the canals of Venice in a gondola or hike to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

All of those experiences sound wonderful, but I also have long had a more mundane item on my list: touring the Retirement Operations Center of the Office of Personnel Management in Boyers, Pennsylvania.

Earlier this month, I got to check that item off my list. I went with a colleague of mine, Joni Montroy of Key Retirement Solutions (who specializes in postal employee retirement issues), to visit the vast underground facility. The tour was led by Ken Zawodny, OPMs associate director for retirement services; Nicholas Ashenden, deputy associate director for retirement operations at Boyers; and Robert Lorish, deputy assistant director.

We traveled 220 feet beneath the earths surface on a golf cart to one of the most secure locations in the country. After we received our security badges, we met our escorts to begin our three-hour visit to a place that we had heard stories about for our entire careers as retirement specialists.

We wanted to see firsthand how retirement claims are processed and find out if the tales we had heard were true. For example, we had been told of a mysterious courier system in which a red truck full of retirement files regularly went from Boyers to Breezewood, Pennsylvania. There it was met by a different red truck that transported the files the rest of the way to Washington. It turned out there is indeed a courier system to transport files that runs several times a week, but it apparently relies on standard trucks, not special red vehicles.

We also learned that the office space is no longer a naturally cool 60 degrees, but has been upgraded with modern HVAC equipment to keep it a comfortable temperature for employees. We could leave our sweaters in the car.

Despite the fact that there were no hidden secrets revealed on our tour, we were fascinated to learn more about what goes on in this cavernous space.

We learned that this is a place where federal employees go to work every day in an office space with rugged walls of blasted limestone that have been painted a bright silver. The floors are lined with 22,000 file cabinets, stacked 10 high and organized into rows, holding 400 million civilian retirement records. Laid end to end, these file cabinets would extend for 26 miles. Stacked on top of each other, they would rise four times higher than Mount Everest.

The history of the processing center dates back to 1902, when U.S. Steel discovered this storehouse of limestone about an hour north of Pittsburgh and began mining it for use in the production of steel. By 1950, mining operations had ceased and the company began using the caverns it had created to protect corporate records. By 1954, space was being rented to businesses and the U.S. government for records storage. In 1960, federal retirement operations moved from the Pension Building (now the National Building Museum) in Washington to Boyers. Today, the space is owned by Iron Mountain, a data and records management company.

In 1960, the facility had 30,000 square feet of dedicated storage space with 42 employees mostly working in jobs related to file storage. Today, there is 221,000 square feet of space with more than 500 employees, now mostly focused on the operational work involved in retirement processing. There are an additional 150 employees who work in the nearby town of East Butler at the OPM call center. Another 300 employees work for Retirement Services at OPM headquarters in Washington.

The workload at the Retirement Operations Center is staggering. Here are a few statistics on its processing activities in fiscal 2018:

Retirees can use online services to to update their mailing addresses, change their federal and state income tax withholding designations, request a duplicate annuity booklet or print their Retirement Services ID card. The more retirees and their families turn to online services for basic needs, the quicker the team at Boyers can respond to more complex questions.

On our tour, we learned of many recent changes to improve the efficiency of the tedious process of retirement claims adjudication and responding to various other requests related to retirement benefits. Training sessions were underway in many areas we visited and retirement records were being maintained in an orderly and secure manner.

We returned from our trip with a renewed sense of optimism that federal employees retirement benefits are in good hands. Next week, Ill share what we learned about the step-by-step process of claims processing to help you understand what happens when you transition from a federal employee to a retiree.

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An Underground Journey to the Heart of Retirement Processing - GovExec.com

About six in 10 Americans (58%) think that $1 million will be enough for "a comfortable retirement." That's according to TD Ameritrade's 2019 Retirement Pulse Survey, which surveyed 1,015 U.S. adults ages 23 and older with at least $10,000 in investable assets.

Although $1 million is the oft-cited amount needed to retire comfortably, it might not be enough. "On average, a $1 million retirement nest egg will last 19 years," according to a 2019 report from personal finance site GOBankingRates. And depending on where you live, retirees could blow through $1 million in as little as a decade.

Of course, everyone's individual situation is different. It's certainly possible to retire with $1 million in savings and many Americans live on much less.

While the amount you need is highly personal and depends on your lifestyle and spending habits, there are a few basic guidelines to follow if you want to retire comfortably.

Many experts, including co-founder of AE Wealth Management David Bach, say that if you set aside at least 10% of your income in a retirement fund, you'll set yourself up to be fine. But more is always better, he adds.

Sallie Krawcheck, co-founder and CEO of Ellevest, recommends saving 20% of your income for your future self. That 20% includes retirement funds and saving for any major purchases, such as a home or car. "For a lot of folks that can be difficult to get to," Krawcheck says, "so start with 1%." Then, aim to gradually increase that amount over time.

You don't just want to save this money, she adds. You want to invest it and make it work for you. That means contributing to your employer's 401(k) plan if they offer one or saving in other retirement accounts, such as a Roth IRA or traditional IRA.

If you don't set aside money when you're young, you'll have to save more to make up for lost time. If you want to retire by 65, you should be setting aside 10-17% of your income if you start saving at 25, the Stanford Center on Longevity determined in a 2018 report. But if you wait until 35 to start, you have to save 15-20%.

Another rule of thumb, from retirement-plan provider Fidelity Investments, is that you should have 10 times your final salary in savings by 67 to last you through retirement.

"Our savings factors are based on the assumption that a person saves 15% of their income annually beginning at age 25, invests more than 50% on average of their savings in stocks over their lifetime, retires at age 67, and plans to maintain their preretirement lifestyle in retirement," Fidelity says.

Getting to 10 times your final salary "may seem ambitious," the report adds, "but you have many years to get there." Here's a timeline you could follow to see if you're on track to get there:

Most Americans, 62%, feel like they need to catch up on their retirement savings, TD Ameritrade reports. If you feel the same, there are strategies you can use like setting up automatic contributions or increasing your income that will help you get to, or nearer to, where you need to be.

First, enroll in your employer-sponsored 401(k) plan if you haven't already, says Katie Taylor, vice president of thought leadership at Fidelity Investments. Next, find out if your company offers a 401(k) match. If they do, take full advantage of it, she tells CNBC Make It: "If there is a match that's 3%, make sure that you're saving at least 3%. Otherwise, you're leaving 'free' money on the table."

If you're one of the many Americans without access to a 401(k), don't stress. Most importantly, "don't let that be a deterrent for not saving for the future," says Taylor. "Whether or not you have access to a 401(k), at some point, you will want to retire and you will need to have money saved."

You have plenty of other options, including a traditional, Roth or SEP IRA; a health savings account (HSA) or a normal investment account. Read up on all of your options, choose an account to fund and start setting aside money for your future today.

"It's harder to catch up if you don't save," says Taylor. "If you spend the first half of your career not saving, you've got to do a lot of catching up later in your career and you don't have the time in the market to ride out any fluctuations. It's always a good idea to get started as early as possible."

Don't miss: How much money you need to save to retire by age 65, according to Stanford researchers

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Most Americans think $1 million will be enough for 'a comfortable retirement'here's how to figure out how much you need - CNBC

City population: 41,241

Share of population 65+: 11.0%

Cost of living for retirees: 4.4% below the national average

Average income for population 65+: n/a

Community score: n/a

State's tax rating for retirees: Least Tax Friendly

If the cold winters and equally harsh tax situation don't put you off of the North Star State, consider retiring in Mankato, about 90 miles southwest of the Twin Cities. It's still a small city, but development is on the rise, and the local economy is growing fast. Revitalization projects have added a nice mix of restaurants, shops, entertainment venues and more to the downtown area in recent years, and the city's five-year strategic plan aims to spread that level of development throughout the Minnesota River Valley. Some goals of the plan include adding housing, specifically within walking distance of where jobs and shops are; expanding Riverfront Park and other recreational land; and possibly building a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Minnesota River to North Mankato.

So far, all that growth has yet to push up living costs. While other metro areas in Minnesota come with above-average expenses, Mankato's cost of living for retirees (and others) remains below the national average. By comparison, Minneapolis has living costs for retirees 5.7% above the national average. Unfortunately, typical incomes in Mankato are also lower, with the overall annual income for residents with earnings at $62,776, on average, compared with $64,626 in Minneapolis. Still, the poverty rate for residents 65 and older is lower at 7.8% in Mankato, compared with 12.6% in Minneapolis and 9.3% in the whole U.S.

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Great Places to Retire in the Midwest 2019 - Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Retirement is supposed to be one of the most relaxing, joyous times of your life. But if your savings are falling short, it can quickly become stressful and depressing.

Unfortunately, ending up broke in retirement is a reality many retirees will face. Roughly half of baby boomers don't have any savings at all, a report from the Insured Retirement Institute revealed, and with the future of Social Security on shaky ground, you may not be able to rely on your benefits as much as you may hope.

That said, there are some mistakes that can make it more likely you'll run out of money in retirement.

Image source: Getty Images.

Even if you've worked hard your entire life to save enough for retirement, you could throw off your entire plan by withdrawing too much too soon once you retire. Even withdrawing a couple thousand dollars more per year than you had planned for can result in running out of savings toward the end of your life, so it's important to have a withdrawal strategy in mind before you retire.

The type of withdrawal strategy you use depends on your unique situation. One option is to use the 4% rule as a basic guideline. In a nutshell, it states that you can withdraw 4% of your total savings during the first year of retirement, then adjust that number each following year to account for inflation.

The 4% rule is a good guideline to make sure you don't wildly overspend, and in theory, it ensures your savings should last approximately 30 years in retirement. But it's not perfect. For example, if you don't expect to spend 30 years in retirement, you may be able to safely withdraw more than 4% per year. And if your spending levels fluctuate throughout retirement (which they likely will, especially if you plan to travel extensively your first few years, or if you face expensive healthcare issues later in life), then it might not be realistic to assume you'll be withdrawing the same amount every year for the rest of your life.

In that case, it might be a good idea to discuss your future with a financial advisor, who can recommend a withdrawal strategy to fit your needs. Whether you do this or choose to go the DIY route, just make sure you have some sort of plan in place so you don't blow through your savings too soon.

Healthcare and long-term care are two of the biggest costs you'll face in retirement, and they both have the potential to break the bank if you're not prepared for them.

The average retiree spends around $4,300 per year on out-of-pocket healthcare costs, according to a report from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Even with Medicare coverage, you'll still need to pay for all premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and copays. Plus, Original Medicare doesn't cover routine care like dental and vision, so you'll need to foot the bill for those expenses, too.

Long-term care can also be incredibly costly. The average semi-private room in a nursing home will cost you roughly $6,800 per month, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- and you won't receive any help from Medicare either, as these costs aren't covered. And because approximately 70% of retirees will need long-term care at some point, there's a good chance you'll be spending a good chunk of change on this expense.

To avoid getting caught off guard by the sticker shock of these expenses, make sure you're preparing for them early. Long-term care insurance is one option to help shoulder the costs, but premiums can cost thousands of dollars per year. Still, though, if you end up paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in long-term care costs over several years, hefty premiums don't seem so bad.

Another way to help with healthcare expenses is to open a health savings account (HSA). These accounts are available for those currently enrolled in a high-deductible healthcare plan (meaning you have a deductible of at least $1,350 for individuals or $2,700 for families), and they allow you to contribute pre-tax dollars, let your money grow over time, and then withdraw it tax-free as long as it goes toward eligible medical expenses.

If your savings are falling short, your current retirement plan may be to simply continue working for as long as possible. However, 43% of retirees say they were forced to retire earlier than they'd hoped, citing health issues and unexpected job loss as the most common reasons for early retirement, according to a report from Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Early retirement can be disastrous if your savings aren't ready. Especially if you're unable to find another job or continue working on at least a part-time basis, you may have to find a way to live on whatever you already have saved. If you have next to nothing stashed in your retirement fund, you risk running out of money far earlier than you'd hoped.

Although you can't completely avoid the possibility of being forced into an early retirement, you can play it safe and assume you won't be able to work as long as you'd like. By planning on retiring earlier than you expect, you won't be left in the lurch if you lose your job.

Nobody wants to think about the possibility of going broke in retirement, but it's more likely than you may realize. However, by avoiding these common mishaps, you can give your savings the best shot at lasting the rest of your life.

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3 Mistakes That Could Cause You to Go Broke in Retirement - The Motley Fool

Seven in 10 workers say they're looking forward to retirement, according to a report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. So if you can't wait until the day you walk out of your job and never look back, you're not alone.

But wanting to retire and actually being ready to retire are two different things. No matter how badly you want to retire, if you're not financially ready to do so, you could be in a heap of trouble if you run out of money too soon.

Before you call it quits and start living out your retirement dream, ask yourself a few questions first. Your responses will either tell you you're ready to retire, or give you an idea of where you need to focus your saving efforts.

Image source: Getty Images.

To figure out how long your savings will last, you first need to know how much you expect to spend each year in retirement. Be sure to factor yourSocial Security benefits into this calculation, too. Although you won't be able to rely on them as your primary source of income, they can help bridge the gap between what you have saved and what you need to make ends meet.

So, for instance, say you expect to spend $60,000 in retirement per year, and $20,000 of that will come from Social Security benefits. If $40,000 per year will need to come from your savings and you expect to spend, say, 25 years in retirement, that means you'll need to have at least $1 million saved. There are also inflation costs to consider, meaning your money won't last quite as long as you may think.

Of course, some factors you can't predict 100% accurately. Nobody knows exactly how long they'll live, for example, and it's unlikely you'll spend exactly the same amount every year of retirement. But the point of this exercise is to make sure your savings are in the right ballpark. If you only have $200,000 saved but expect to spend $40,000 per year in retirement, for instance, you're not quite ready to retire.

One major variable in retirement is healthcare expenses, which can quickly break the bank if you're not prepared for them. Although, again, you can't predict every health issue that will pop up in retirement, you can at least get an estimate of what you'll spend.

At the bare minimum, you'll be responsible for all premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and copays associated with Medicare coverage. Despite what some people may believe, Medicare coverage isn't entirely free, and you could still face significant out-of-pocket costs in retirement.

Routine care -- such as dental and vision -- can also cost you in retirement, because it's not covered by Medicare. Approximately 65% of retirees enrolled in Medicare don't have dental insurance, and these out-of-pocket dental office visits cost the average retiree roughly $1,000 per year, according to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Make sure you're aware of these costs before you retire so you're not surprised if you're slapped with a hefty healthcare bill. Understand what is and isn't covered by Medicare, and think about whether your savings can handle these expenses.

Unexpected expenses are a part of life. The car starts making a funny noise, the dog needs expensive surgery, or you twist your ankle and need to visit the hospital. When you're still working, these costs can be a headache. But when you're retired, they can potentially spell disaster.

If you've planned your retirement assuming you'll be spending a certain amount every year, a major unexpected expense could throw off your entire plan. And chances are that over the course of 20 or 30 years in retirement, you'll have several of these types of expenses thrown at you. If you're not budgeting for potentially spending thousands of dollars on these costs, they can cause you to run out of money too soon.

For this reason, it's more important than ever to have a robust emergency fund in retirement. That way, when these costs inevitably pop up, you won't have to dip into your retirement savings to cover them.

Most experts typically recommend saving enough cash to cover three to six months' worth of expenses, but you might aim to save even more in your retirement emergency fund. Because you'll be living on a fixed income, it will be tougher to replenish your emergency savings after you spend some of that money. In order for that fund to last a couple of decades, you'll likely need more than you think.

Retirement is an exciting milestone in life, but it also takes careful planning and preparation. The more prepared you are going into it, the more enjoyable it will be.

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If You Can Answer These 3 Questions, You May Be Ready to Retire - The Motley Fool

Months ago, Washington State announced Klay Thompson would be the second player in program history to have his jersey retired by the school.

Now, theres a date set for when the Cougars will immortalize one of the best players to wear WSUs crimson and gray.

On Monday, WSU announced Thompson will return to the Palouse on Jan. 18 to see his jersey go into the rafters at Beasley Coliseum. The Cougars host Oregon State that day at 1 p.m.

The Golden State Warriors shooting guard, now a three-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star, will join former WSU big man Steve Puidokas as the only other basketball player in school history to have his number retired. The Cougars have retired the numbers of just four former athletes: Puidokas, John Olerud (baseball), Mel Hein (football) and Jack Thompson (football).

The Palouse, its like my home, Thompson told WSU athletic director Pat Chun in a video posted to the schools Twitter account Monday. I grew up there in Pullman, Eastern Washington. My first visit, it was like a barren place. I was like, What am I going to do out here? But that community and that city grew on me so much.

In his three seasons at WSU (2009-11), Thompson scored 1,756 points the third-most in program history and made 242 3-pointers, second only to Davonte Lacy, who played one more season than Thompson did.

The people and just the support I got in my three years there. To this day, the support I get and the amount of Cougs I see everywhere is incredible, Thompson said. If it wasnt for Washington State, I would not have the success I wouldve had to this day. Im just so grateful for my time there, I made lifelong friends and I was so lucky to be able to make an impression on the community and thats why I cant wait to go back.

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Klay Thompson jersey retirement at Washington State to coincide with Jan. 18 game versus Oregon State - The Spokesman-Review

If you dream of retiring rich, you're not alone. More than half (51%) of Americans believe they will be wealthy someday, according to a survey from personal finance website MagnifyMoney.

Exactly what "wealthy" means depends on the individual. For some, it might mean retiring a millionaire. For others, it could be defined as being able to pay all their bills and live a comfortable lifestyle.

Regardless of what retiring wealthy means to you, it's not easy. Even if you have years left before you can even think about retiring, it takes loads of hard work and dedication to amass hundreds of thousands of dollars or more for retirement. But it can be done, especially if you get into the habit of doing these three things.

Image source: Getty Images.

It's never too early to start saving for retirement. The earlier you start, the easier it is to build a robust retirement fund. That's because compound interest is on your side -- that's when you earn interest on your interest and your balance grows exponentially. So the more money you have in your retirement fund, the faster your savings can grow.

When you wait too long to start saving, your money doesn't have as much time to grow, and you'll need to save more each month to reach your goal.

Say you want to save $1 million by age 65. If you were to start at age 20, you'd need to save approximately $300 per month, assuming you're earning a 7% annual rate of return on your investments. Wait until 35 to begin, and you'd need to stash away roughly $900 per month. And if you don't start until 50, you'd need to save a whopping $3,400 per month to reach your goal.

Even if you don't have much to save right now, saving just a little is better than saving nothing at all. It might not seem to make much of a difference, but give that money a couple of decades to grow, and it can be significant.

Saving without a goal is like taking a road trip without a GPS. You might end up where you want to be eventually, but there's a good chance you'll get lost along the way.

When you set a goal for yourself, it will help you figure out how much you should be saving now to achieve that goal by the time you retire. It also helps to set smaller, more achievable goals along the way so you don't get overwhelmed by your overarching target. Instead of thinking about how much you need to save by retirement age, focus on what you should be saving each month or each week. That helps make your target less intimidating.

Also, once you have your goals set, write them down to hold yourself accountable. Nearly two-thirds of those who have a written financial plan say they feel financially stable, a survey from Charles Schwab found. In addition, 78% of those with a written plan are able to pay their bills and save each month, compared with only 38% of those without a written plan, according to the survey.

Once you have your goals in mind and a written plan to achieve them, prioritize that plan. It's easy to shove retirement saving to the bottom of your priority list, especially if you still have decades left to save.

But rather than treating it as an afterthought and only saving whatever scraps you have left at the end of the month, think of it as an important bill that has to be paid every month. You can't skip paying the mortgage or the electric bill because you'd rather spend that money elsewhere, so think of retirement saving the same way.

Make sure you dedicate at least some money every month toward your retirement fund. If you don't have enough cash to meet your monthly goal, either make cuts in other areas of your budget or make up for it by saving extra the next month. Don't get into a habit of not saving, because it can be much harder to catch up.

Retiring wealthy is an admirable goal, and it's within reach even if you don't consider yourself wealthy now. Getting into the habit of making smart financial choices will give you the best shot at a comfortable retirement.

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3 Financial Habits That Can Help You Retire Rich - The Motley Fool

Most millennials, 66%, don't feel on track when it comes to saving for retirement. That's according to a 2019 TD Ameritrade report, which surveyed 1,015 U.S. adults aged 23 and older with at least $10,000 in investable assets.

When asked why they've fallen behind on their retirement savings, the No. 1 response for millennials (ages 23 to 38), was housing costs: 37% cited it.

Partly because of rising rental prices, young people are spending big chunks of their income on housing. That's especially true for families: 1 in 5 millennial parents reported spending 50-59% of their income on housing, according to a 2016 report from the National Endowment for Financial Education and Parents magazine. And 8% said they're paying 60-74%.

It doesn't leave much room for savings. As a rule of thumb, money experts recommend putting half of your take-home pay toward necessities, which includes things like housing, transportation, food, insurance and childcare. About 30% of your income can go toward "fun" and the remaining 20% should go toward savings for your future self.

Besides housing, 33% of millennials say that "supporting family members financially" has prevented them from saving enough for retirement. And 26% cite "inadequate income" for causing them to fall behind.

About one-fifth (21%) of millennials say that student debt is holding them back from saving for their future. This is a much more common answer among young people: Only 12% of Gen Xers and 5% of boomers feel this way.

The good news is, there are ways to save on housing and free up more room in your budget for retirement savings. Here are three strategies:

When shopping for a place, make sure you're not getting more than what you need, recommends one millennial who saves more than 60% of his income by focusing on cutting back on "the big three" expenses: housing, transportation and food.

"If you're renting, ask yourself whether stainless steel appliances will actually improve your life in any meaningful way," says the Minneapolis-based millennial, who goes by the pen name Sean. "If you're buying, take a long hard look at how much space you really need, and whether a mega huge yard with its mega huge maintenance is really something you want in your life."

It's important to be open-minded in general. If your dream neighborhood is going to break your budget, for example, consider other areas. The biggest mistake first-time home buyers make is not keeping an open mind, CPA Cathy Derus tells CNBC Make It.

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The No. 1 reason millennials are struggling to save for retirementand it's not debt - CNBC

I need to get healthy first of all and then Ill decide what I want to do, Pearce said. I dont have any regrets about my career, thats for sure.

Pearce, a free agent after the season, flew to Boston for the weekend to reconnect with his teammates and visit with coaching staff.

I wanted to be around to see everybody together one more time, he said.

Pearce has hit .254 with a .772 OPS, 91 home runs and 303 RBIs for seven teams in his career.

The Red Sox acquired Pearce from Toronto on June 28, 2018, to platoon with Mitch Moreland at first base. He had a .901 OPS in 50 regular-season games then was 11 of 38 with six extra-base hits, nine walks, 12 runs, and 11 RBIs in 13 postseason games.

Peace hit a tying home run off closer Kenley Jansen in the eighth inning of Game 4 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium. He added a three-run double in the ninth inning in a game the Sox won, 9-6.

In the Game 5 clincher, Pearce had a two-run homer off Clayton Kershaw in the first inning and a solo shot off Pedro Baez in the eighth.

Best part of my career, what we did last fall, Pearce said. Ill never forget what we did as a team.

The Sox signed Pearce to a one-year, $6.25 million contract 19 days after the Series ended. But he hit .180 with one home run and nine RBIs.

I wish I could have done more this season, he said. Thats baseball, the ups and downs. Well see where it goes; but I got more out of my career than I expected. Baseball treated me great.

Xander Bogaertss two-run homer in the first inning off Orioles starter John Means was his 33rd of the season. The homer brought Bogaertss extra-base hit total to 85, tying him with Nomar Garciaparra for the most by a Red Sox shortstop.

Garciaparra did it in 1997 and 2002. The Bogaerts milestone came just after he reached another one Friday evening, recording the 500th RBI of his career. Hes just the fourth Red Sox player to reach 500 RBIs before turning 27 years old.

Like, Bogaerts, Rafael Devers keeps adding his name to the history books this season. He has 89 extra-base hits, which led the majors. He recently tied Tony Conigliaro for the most homers (32) by a Red Sox before turning 23. After Fridays game, Devers was just three hits shy of 200 on the year. Deverss line-drive single to right in the fifth on Saturday brought him closer to that total. If Devers does reach it, hell be the first American League player to reach 200-plus hits before turning 23 since Starlin Castro in 2007.

Manager Alex Cora said recently that Devers changed his mind-set this past offseason, coming back more in shape by changing his diet. Devers set the bar for himself entering the season, and in many ways hes exceeded it.

I said it in spring training, if you had to pick a guy that would impact this team, I had no doubt in my mind it was going to be [Devers], Cora said. Hes not afraid of the stage. Thats the most important thing. I saw in [2017 with the Houston Astros] we were trying to do everything possible to rattle him. And he looked at us and laughed at us. He doesnt just want to be good. He wants to be great.

If theres something for Sox fans to look forward to Sunday, Devers getting to 200 hits is certainly one of them. But you also have to include Eduardo Rodriguez possibly reaching 20 wins, which has been the topic of conversation for a couple of weeks now.

The Sox players and Cora willed Rodriguez through his last start against the Texas Rangers. He went five innings, giving up 11 hits and seven runs while also throwing 113 pitches. In the fifth inning, the Rangers Delino DeShields attempted to steal but was thrown out by Christian Vazquez for the final out of the frame.

On Sunday, all the Sox regulars will play. Mookie Betts who was the designated hitter Friday had the day off Saturday but will be in back in right field for the finale. If Rodriguez gets his 20th, hell be the first Sox lefthander to do so since Mel Parnell in 1953. Just five Sox southpaws have reached 20 wins: Parnell, Lefty Grove, Babe Ruth, Ray Collins, and Jesse Tannehill.

Rodriguez, who is also at 196 innings, wants to reach 200 for the first time. Hes been the Sox most durable starter, going five-plus innings in each of his 27 outings since the start of May.

Best wishes to Bob Tomaselli, who is retiring after 27 years of manning Camera 5 in the home dugout at Fenway Park for NESN. His colleagues signed a No. 27 from the Fenway Park scoreboard for Tomaselli.

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Red Sox Steve Pearce contemplating retirement - The Boston Globe