Your number one financial goal should be to get yourself into a position where you are saving for retirement as early as possible. Why? Because the benefits of investing for retirement early cannot be replaced – even by saving more money later in life.
The following information presented to me during my first “official” after college job impacted me so much that not only did it put our focus on retirement saving, but I also still remember that day, that class room and that chart vividly. This is powerful information for planning your retirement.
Because I believe looking at the chart is more powerful than the words, I am going to give you the chart with a small amount of text at the bottom of this.
Benefits of Investing Early for Retirement
Our young investor saved $2,000 a year from the age 25 – 70 for a total saved of $92,000. Yet at 8%* return this investor ends up with $903,800.30 for his retirement savings.
Our older investor saved $5,000 a year from the age 40 – 70 for a total saved of $155,000. With an 8%* return this investor still ends up with less than our younger saver coming in at $666,067.69 for retirement.
The power of saving as early as possible can be the difference between living month to month in retirement and a fun and secure retirement.
It might require a small sacrifice such as giving up a vacation or less going out to dinner less but the difference over time is huge. $2,000 a year is $168 a month – I challenge you to find something you can forgo in order to start saving today!
Don’t have $168 a month? Don’t give up, start with $25 or $50 and build yourself up. Every dollar you put away today gives you that much more comfort in retirement. Do not delay your retirement savings!
*These numbers are just an illustration. No investment is going to guarantee you any return and the market will not always give you 8% year after year. Some years it might be down 20% and some it might be up 30%. These two things give you even more reason to save as early as possible so you have more time to gain the benefits of investing over the long run.
