“I don’t need to save for retirement – I am only 25 years old.”
Well, I have news for you. You DO need to save for retirement and if you are 25 and haven’t started you are already behind!
In my mind, saving for retirement is simple but not easy. It is simple because “all” you need to do is begin saving regularly and keep saving regularly until you retire. It isn’t easy because money always seems to be tight; student loans give way to mortgage payments, give way to educating children, give way to… you get the idea.
I like the way a former co-worker of mine looked at it – she always put a part of her check into savings and said she was simply paying herself first. Getting into the habit is the key. You may need to start small but getting started will pay big dividends down the road.
I saw an article on Yahoo Finance recently that looked at the real cost of a fancy cup of coffee a day. By their analysis, over 40 years you could increase your retirement savings by over $450,000 if you brewed your own coffee rather than paying $4 for a cup each day. That $450,000 would provide $2,000 a month of retirement income. So, how badly do you really want that latte?