The Biggest Challenge Millennials Face When Saving for the Future

How to Beat the Barriers to Saving

Many millennials struggle with the importance of saving for the future when there’s so much going on in their day-to-day lives. Chances are you’re not worried about retirement; you’re worried about making rent, eating food that isn’t 2-minute noodles, or keeping your car running.

The importance of having enough money to retire on is diminished because it’s decades away. You can worry about that when you’re in your 40s, right?

Wrong. I know it might sound hard to believe, but you should be concerned about retirement in your 20s. Social Security isn’t guaranteed to be around, and if you don’t have a 401(k), then it’s up to you to open a retirement savings account and contribute to it. No one is going to do it for you.

Saving for retirement now versus waiting 20 years can mean the difference of being able to afford to retire. Do you want to be working at 75 because you need the money? If not, then you need to figure out how to overcome this challenge.

Are You Living in the Present, or the Future?

A lot of people think living paycheck to paycheck and being in debt is normal. Student loan debt perpetuates this. College is expensive; most of us need to take out loans to attend.

Then we have trouble finding jobs. Paying back our loans becomes a challenge. We resign ourselves to paying back debt for the next 10 years (or more, if you’re on an Income-Based Repayment plan) because we have things to enjoy in the meantime.

Who wants to say “no” to hanging out with friends because they’re trying to save money for an emergency fund or for retirement? Besides, you can always put it on your credit card and worry about it later. YOLO, right?

It’s extremely easy to fall into the trap of only living for today and not thinking about your future. In reality, you’re borrowing money from your future self by spending it now. That’s short-term thinking, and it has the potential to get you into trouble when it comes to debt and making any sort of financial progress.

Read the full article at: Erin Millard - source: www.genfkd.org

October 12 2017 By Erin Millard - source: www.genfkd.org Financial Planning