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RE: The 4% Retirement Rule and How it Works

in #money8 years ago (edited)

I agree. I made $6-8k in a summer, and all of that went to pay tuition, housing and food costs. I saved maybe a few hundred dollars toward retirement during that time.

$60k at 20 is a pipe dream for most people. $130k at 30 is also a pipe dream for many.

But if you contribute small amounts regularly beginning fairly early on, it's very feasible to have a million dollars in 40-50 years. It's just keeping in mind that every dollar you put in during your 20's and early 30's is going to be worth 7-15 times more when you retire. Every bottle of coke you buy when you're 20 is a $15 bottle of coke. Your $20 fast food purchase ends up costing you $300.

Keeping these figures in mind, it becomes very easy to convince yourself that you can do without some things now in order to have a better retirement later. Very few people are going to invest their $60k at 20 years old, but even investing a fraction of that will help immensely later in life.