One of the hallmarks of youth is impulsivity, at least it seems. The stereotypical youth spends money as soon as they get it (or runs across a "must-have" gadget), rushes to experience life as it happens, and rarely expresses the patient restraint exhibited by elders. I tend to be fairly patient when it comes to life decisions, transitions and purchases, but I do think I have a lot to learn when it comes to actually preparing for the future instead of just experiencing it as it happens. One way this has come to light this week is in thinking about retirement. To date, I am 27 years old, and honestly, I would guess that most of my friends and associates (who aren't under a workforce-mandated plan) don't have any kind of retirement. It's just not something our age group thinks about. How many U-30 year olds want to think about decisions they'll need to make when they are 70-75? How many want to purchase life insurance or justify putting away a percentage of their income each month to make sure that life after 60 is as much fun as life at 25? In truth, I know several people I've worked with who were over the age of 40 and still had not thought seriously about retirement.
So, in an effort to take responsibility and avoid potential pitfalls, we've started talking about our retirement/investments. I don't know that we need to get into all the specifics of what we have and what we need, but what do you guys think? How do young people take responsibility for their finances and justify putting money away when there are so many cool things to do with our money right now? What do you use to help you exhibit restraint or what are things that have helped you grow money slowly? Do any of you avoid investments entirely? What type of plans should we seek out?
3 comments:
You and Tiffanie are our retirement plan. You both can support us while we veg out. Don't worry as we don't plan on moving in with you. Just send money so we can retire in style!
Seeing my parents try to play catch up with their own retirement plan in recent years makes me/us more aware of the importance of planning ahead. We do 401k stuff through jobs. Investments can be a risk, but I'm also reminded of the story in Matthew of the talents where just keeping the money wasn't enough--the money was supposed to be invested or at least earning interest. Sure, it's a symbolic story, but I think it has some literal implications, too.
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