OPINION: For those graduating into the coronavirus era, it's hard to know what the future holds. Here's some financial advice to keep you on the right track. 1. Read and learn about personal finance 2. Start saving for retirement now!
It’s unsettling. The incidents of violence and racism in our cities these past few days, and the continuing global pandemic have left a hole in our hearts.
So with compassion, humility and your understanding, here are some thoughts I would have doled to you if I had been asked to speak at your graduation.I get it.To be fair, during my initial working years, I didn’t have access to an employer-based retirement plan. I was a freelancer for many publications.
Even if retirement savings is truly the last thing on your mind right now, it matters, a lot. Trust me. If you accept a contract job, or gig work, you will have fewer, if any, employer benefits, including employer-sponsored retirement plans.
Retirement saving is nonnegotiable, so it’s essential that you find ways to make saving and investing a priority and refrain from dipping into the bucket once you get going, as I did.Look at saving as making an investment in your future self. It’s self-care. You’re saving for “living,” not “retirement.” To me, that’s a better way to frame it, especially when retirement is a fuzzy concept at best.
Contribute to a Roth IRA. You can sock away up to $6,000 this year in a Roth account. You contribute after-tax dollars, your money grows tax-free, and you can generally make tax- and penalty-free withdrawals after age 59½. I know, decades from now. But hear me out.
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