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This October, follow this retirement recipe

Posted on September 25, 2025

Sometimes saving for retirement can feel like trying to cook a recipe without clear instructions. You feel like the recipe is smudged and you’re not sure about the ingredients. You might be thinking: “Am I saving enough? What’s the right number for me? Should I save with pretax or Roth? Stocks or bonds?”

But just like cooking, a little guidance makes the process easier. Having the right “recipe” for retirement can turn that stress into confidence.

Take a moment to think about your retirement dish:

What kind of lifestyle do you want to enjoy when you retire?
Do you want to retire early, or do you want to work past age 65?
Will you flavor your future with Roth, pretax, or a mix of both?

This October, we’re celebrating National Retirement Security Month (NRSM) and hosting four webinars to help you cook with confidence and achieve your retirement goals. Each session is 30 minutes with a presentation followed by time for your questions. Sign up to get your spot.

Special sessions for October

Tuesday, Oct. 7 – Get your financial ingredients in order

Just like cooking, retirement success starts with prep. Find out how to secure your online account, set up beneficiaries and discover some ingredients you might be missing.

Tuesday, Oct. 14 – The secret sauce of pensions

Defined benefit pensions in the U.S. are rare to have nowadays. Find out what it means to have a pension and how you can increase it.

Tuesday, Oct. 21 – A well-seasoned retirement

A retirement recipe has lots of ingredients: Social Security, pension, savings and investments. Explore whether boosting your savings now could help reduce the risk of running out of money later.

Tuesday, Oct. 28 – Turn up the heat on your savings: choosing how to add to your DCP

Just like adding spices to a recipe, small increases to your DCP contributions can have a big impact. Discover options for saving more, and explore the difference between pretax and Roth contributions.

Financial resources to cook up your perfect retirement recipe

DCP calculator

Use the DCP calculator to see an estimate of how much you’ll have in retirement with your current contribution. If you ever wished that you could have a crystal ball to look into your financial future, look no further. If you increase your monthly contribution by $100 or 1%, it makes a big difference over time.

DRS podcast

Listen to the podcast: Fund Your Future with DRS. Now available on all listening platforms.

Explore tools for financial planning and ideas for sparking conversations with friends and family. Tune in as DRS employees tackle the stigma around money and share their personal financial journeys.

Benefit estimator tool

Log in to your online account and select “Benefit Estimator” to get an idea of your monthly retirement income. By answering a few simple questions, this tool will allow you to see what your monthly income could look like.

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