Thinking About Retirement Already? You Should be

For most young adults, saving for retirement isn’t on your radar. Between paying rent and paying for school, you have enough to keep track of with your money. But here’s a tip that requires very little effort or money that will give you a huge return down the road.

Open an IRA now.

Bear with us for just a minute, and you’ll see how valuable this is.

Let’s say you open an IRA when you’re 20 years old. You deposit $1,000, and you contribute $500 a year (about $10 a week). Make the deposit automatic, so you’re not even thinking about it. By the time you are 65, your IRA could be worth nearly $175,000. Possible more depending on how interest rates fluctuate over time.

Again, you’re only contributing $10 a week when you’re 20. As you get older, and you start earning more, increase your regular deposit into your IRA and build an even bigger retirement fund.

That shouldn’t be your entire retirement strategy, but it’s a great way to “set it and forget it,” with automatic deposits.

Think of it this way. Just like college is so much more expensive than it was for your parents, retirement will be, too. If you start saving now with a small regular deposit that you may even forget you’re doing, it’s a great foundation for your retirement fund that you can afford now.