“Plenty of time” is a relative term. If on the one hand, you’re a twenty-something year old student in grad school, you’ve got more pressing matters to attend. However, if you’ve successfully built up an emergency savings, have demonstrated that you can keep your spending under control, and have successfully managed to avoid or reduce debt, you will want to move up to the next level and explore your options for retirement savings. The sooner you start saving for a long term goal such as retirement, the longer you get to take advantage of the miracle of compound interest. Being able to earn interest on top of the interest you’re already earning is an opportunity often overlooked. If you have a 401(k) and your employer is matching your own payroll contributions, imagine an additional contribution added on top of that. This is how compound interest works in your favor, and it works better the more time you give it.
Anthony Montenegro has been featured in: Forbes, The Huffington Post, CNBC, U.S. News and World Report, MSN Money, CBS NEWS, USA Today, Entrepreneur, The Simple Dollar, Go Banking Rates and Yahoo Finance!