If it’s hard making ends meet, saving for retirement may seem like a fruitless exercise or a luxury you don’t have. However, there are several things you can do to make saving for the future easier, even if you’re having trouble squeezing a savings out of whatever’s leftover after bills.

We’ll discuss the Saver’s Credit, a tax credit developed for those meeting certain criteria, including investing in your own retirement account. Under certain conditions, people can earn $1,000 in tax credits, depending on their income and annual retirement contributions. If you’re looking for a quick retirement-plan pick me up, we have the simplest and most impactful methods below.

What Is the Saver’s Credit?

The Saver’s Credit, or the Retirement Savings Contributions Credit, provides a tax credit for individuals making less than $36,500 (or $73,000 jointly) and willing to make annual contributions to a qualifying retirement account. Those with the lowest income potentially get the highest credits, calculated as a percentage of yearly contributions, either to an IRA or employer retirement plan.

Because the Saver’s Credit is based on a percentage of the amount invested that year, contributing more increases your tax credit. The maximum qualifying contribution is $2,000 (or $4,000 jointly), and depending on your income, you can claim 10%, 20%, or 50% of that contribution as a tax credit.

Besides the income limits and participation in a qualified retirement plan, there are other prerequisites for the Saver’s Credit:

• 18 years or older
• Not a student (including trade schools)
• Not claimed as a dependent on another’s tax return

Be aware that the Saver’s Credit is changing to the “Saver’s Match” program, in which the government will match your contribution up to a certain limit.

Investing for Retirement on a Fixed Income

If your retirement is getting close, starting a 401k won’t necessarily pan out when you need it to. The Saver’s Credit/Saver’s Match may be more beneficial, if you’re open to using an IRA instead.

For those making general investments, you’ll likely want to adopt lower risk as you get older and/or if your available investment funds are a sizable portion of your wealth. Mutual funds reduce volatility, but finding low fees can be hard. Many people regard the safest investment to be treasury bonds, because their track record and likelihood of meeting interest payments is very high.

You can somewhat reduce risk by spreading it around, or diversifying your portfolio — but it’s far from bulletproof. However you choose to do it, you’ll want to take more protective postures like these with your finances, in addition to whatever financial strategy or advisor you trust.

From Tight to Tighter Measures

There’s no shortage of things you can do right now to boost your chances of a carefree retirement. Getting the basics down is essential. That includes not spending more than you make each month, avoiding debt like the plague (especially as you get older), and calculating both your expenses and income. You might want to find a simple budget app that you like.

On a limited income, the best ideas available to you work on their strength of creativity. A little retirement brainstorming could go a long way, and you could make use of one of the following tips or the other on your personal financial journey:

• Move somewhere with a lower cost of living (including cities or counties offering incentives to move there)
• Downsize to a lower-cost home or apply for housing assistance
• Start transitioning your work efforts to monetizing activities you wouldn’t mind doing (or might even want to) in your older years
• Replace your costly social outings with social innings — and invite friends over for more socialization at home (because a healthy social life will add years!)
• Manage your health for the long haul, so you have as many good, productive years ahead of you as possible

Above all, reduce your overall expenses while boosting quality of life. By the time your private income slows down, you’ll be getting more comfortable even as your expenses lower! After all, a retirement spent stressed about money is hardly a retirement at all.