Ah, the infamous retirement planning question: Should you save or should you invest your nest egg to grow it? Some people believe in the idea that you should make your money work for you and that the best way to do that is to invest it. While others argue that there is risk involved in investing and that a safer, guaranteed way to make your nest egg grow is to save. Now, I don’t really want to get into which is best as I really believe it should probably be a mix of the two. If you are able to take on the risk and have a sound–and diverse–investment strategy then putting a good chunk of your money into the financial markets is probably a good idea. However, you may still want to have some savings for an short-term issues that arise. Savings may also be a wise idea as you get closer to retirement and will need to start tapping into your nest egg, which is usually when the appetite for investing risk tends to dampened for many Americans. Regardless of how close or far away from retirement you are, you should still have a mix. If you are young and early in your career, then you probably should look to invest more to really make your money work for you. Starting a strong portfolio early can be huge in growing your nest egg. At the younger age too, you should worry about paying off any education loans or debts you may have and saving a bit of an emergency fund. Now, if you are a few years out from retirement, you may want to focus more on maintaining your nest egg so that it lasts you through your retirement. This may involve lessening the risk in your investment portfolio, but also maybe looking to build up your savings accounts and put more thought into where your nest egg is located (i.e. How much is in savings? How much is tied up in the markets? How easily can you access money if you need it?). The key at this point, like I mentioned, is to limit any possibility for an investment to hurt your hard-earned savings. As you can see, you should strive for a mix of saving and investing and be willing to adjust that as you move closer to retirement or as your financial situation changes (i.e. income increases, inheritances, etc.). If you need help striking a balance with your retirement saving, you should speak with a certified financial planner or wealth manager.