Retirement advice for young people

Sponsored Content

Tuesday, April 6, 2021 ~ Updated 2:09 PM

=

It’s especially valuable to help younger people avoid some of the financial mistakes that some of their elders made on their own financial journeys.

The first piece of advice is to learn self-control. When we’re kids, most of us learn self-control in terms of when we talk in class or when we go to bed. But it’s just as important to learn financial self-control. When we get older and are making a regular salary, we have to learn instant gratification can get us in trouble if we start buying whatever we want with credit cards. Saving up for the latest PlayStation, rather than putting it on plastic, is going to be so helpful in the long run.

Credit cards are a financial tool most people use, but you can be strategic about how you use them. Always pay your balance in full each month. Also, don’t carry more cards than you can keep track of or pay off each month. Credit cards are valuable tools for emergency situations and can also help you build credit, but it’s so crucial not to abuse them.

Know where your money is going. It sounds so simple, but it’s essential. “Hey, it’s only $6.” But your mind isn’t factoring yesterday’s $6 and tomorrow’s $6. Know where your money is going.

No matter where you are in life, it’s important to have an emergency fund — usually three to six 6 months’ worth of your monthly expenses. When you are young it can be difficult to build an emergency fund. But it’s still important to save money, even if it’s only a few bucks.

Finally, take advantage of your employer’s retirement plan at work, and hopefully there’s a match that will boost your retirement savings. By starting to make good decisions early on, you’ll position yourself well for everything that’s yet to come on your journey. This is a good lesson for parents to teach their kids as well.

###

Advisory services are offered through Innovative Financial Planners, LLC, an Investment Advisor in the state of Missouri. Insurance products and services are offered through Innovative Insurance Consultants, LLC, an affiliated company.

All written content is for information purposes only. It is not intended to provide any tax or legal advice or provide the basis for any financial decisions.

The information contained herein is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities, products or services mentioned, and no offers or sales will be made in jurisdictions in which the offer or sale of these securities, products or services is not qualified or otherwise exempt from regulation.

The information contained in this article have been derived from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed as to accuracy and completeness and does not purport to be a complete analysis of the materials discussed.