From
Your Perspective:
Early bird retirement investing
Early bird retirement
investing
If you’re just starting your first real job,
you probably haven’t thought about your financial plans
for retirement yet. After all, it’s decades away, right?
And you have plenty of things to do with your money in the meantime.
Or maybe you’ve been building your career
for a few years, and it’s dawned on you that you should
be thinking about retirement. But what’s holding you back
is that you’re intimidated by the idea of investing, and
think you don’t have enough money or information to get
started.
Even if you’ve budgeted some of your earnings
for an emergency fund and are stashing money in a savings account,
your future might not be as secure as you think. Inflation can
erode the purchasing power of your dollars, and the interest you
earn on a savings account won’t be enough to outpace inflation.
There is some good news, however — if you
get an early start on planning and start investing for long-term
goals, like retirement, there’s a better chance that you’ll
be able to reach those goals. And even if you can’t afford
to contribute much, the power of time can turn a small investment
into a substantial amount of money.
On average, Social Security provides between a half and a third
of a retired person’s monthly income. That means that most retired people
rely on other sources for up to two-thirds of their cost
of living. Retirement accounts that you set up now, while you have plenty
of time to let them grow, are a great way to provide for your future.
