Whether you’re in your 20s or 30s or 40s, it’s never too soon to begin thinking about and saving for retirement. If you want to avoid an uncertain future, early retirement planning can be a critical step in securing your financial future.
Here’s why planning your retirement early is so critical.
Consider All Your Options
Both from a financial and lifestyle perspective, it’s an excellent idea to consider how you will spend your retirement early in your life. Do you want to stay at home? Or might you consider a retirement village? For example, you can browse excellent options in picturesque locations like Sydney here.
Thinking about what your retirement will look like early can be instrumental in setting goals for the financial reality of your retirement. It will also give you plenty of time to think about the most enjoyable ways to spend your retirement.
Jumpstart Compounding Returns
One of the most powerful tools in investing for retirement is compound interest. When you begin investing early, even small amounts can grow substantially over time thanks to compounding returns. For example, investing just $50 per week in your 20s could grow to over $500,000 by age 65, at an average annual return of 8%. The earlier you start investing, the more time your money has to compound.
The faster you begin investing, the quicker you can put your money to work compounding returns. Even if you start with smaller amounts, earning returns on those investments means you’ll reach higher balances sooner. Rather than wait until you have large sums, it’s worth considering starting as soon as you can. A little money compounding over many years can outpace larger amounts left untouched.
Take Advantage of Time
Starting early gives you the incredible power of time. The more working years you have ahead of you, the more you can contribute to super and harness returns through investing. By starting in your 20s or 30s, you have decades for your investments to potentially grow. Even just 10 or 15 extra years of contributions and compounding can make an enormous difference compared to beginning in your 40s or 50s. Time is one of your biggest assets. Use it to your advantage.
Maximise Retirement Fund Contributions
Depending on your jurisdiction, contributing to retirement funds early allows you to put in more money over your working life. For example, in Australia, starting early lets you maximise your contributions each year and reach your contribution caps well before retirement.
In some instances, the Australian government even gives you bonus contributions through super co-contributions if you meet certain criteria. The earlier you begin contributing, the more bonus money you can obtain. This is another crucial benefit of early retirement planning.
Lock In Lower Income Tax Rates
In some jurisdictions like Australia, retirement fund contributions come out of your pre-tax income. As a result, it’s possible to make contributions to your retirement funds while taking advantage of tax incentives.
As an early planner, you can reap the benefits of this over many decades.
Reduce Required Savings Rate
Planning early significantly reduces how much you need to save each year to reach your retirement goals. By starting decades before retirement, you only need to save a reasonable percentage of your income. But if you wait, you’ll need large savings rates to catch up.
The earlier you start, the less you need to save annually to end up with sufficient retirement funds. Set up that account now. You’ll thank yourself when you reach your golden years.
Have More Flexibility Later
Beginning your retirement planning early in your 20s or 30s gives you substantially more flexibility and options later in your 40s, 50s, and 60s. If you start saving and investing for retirement decades before you plan to retire, you’ll have a lot more room for unpredictable life events and adjustments down the road.
For example, if you incur major unexpected expenses in your 40s or 50s, such as healthcare bills, home repairs, or supporting adult children, you won’t have to increase your retirement contributions to try to catch up to the same extent. Because you began retirement planning early, you’ll have savings and compound investment returns already working in your favour.
Or if you decide you want to retire early at 55 or 60, you’ll be in a much better position to do so if you started planning in your 20s rather than your 40s. Those extra decades of compounding investment returns and contributions can make a serious difference in your ability to retire early comfortably.
If you have to take time off work for family reasons, you won’t be starting from scratch trying to save for retirement after that gap. The flexibility and security that comes from early retirement preparation simply often can’t be replicated by waiting until your 40s or 50s to begin planning. By taking advantage of time and starting decades before retirement, you open up many more options for yourself later in life. The earlier you start, the more flexibility you’ll have.
Avoid Procrastination Pitfalls
Let’s face it – it’s easy to put off retirement planning. But procrastination can be extremely costly when investing for retirement. The longer you wait, the more you’ll need to save each year to reach your goals. And you lose out on years of compounding returns. Starting early helps avoid procrastination that could jeopardise your retirement security.
Gain Peace of Mind
There’s no denying retirement planning can seem daunting, especially when you’re just beginning your career. But you can gain immense peace of mind by starting early. You put your retirement on auto-pilot, taking advantage of time and compounding to do the heavy lifting. And you won’t need to worry about playing catch up later.
In summary, while it may seem distant, planning for retirement early in your working life offers immense advantages. You can maximise super contributions, capitalise on compound returns for decades, minimise taxes, and gain flexibility for the future. Starting early leads to greater retirement savings in the long run. Do yourself a favour and begin planning now, no matter your age or career stage. Your future retired self will thank you.
Veeramachineni Lalitha
I am Finance Content Writer. I write Personal Finance, banking, investment, and insurance related content for top clients including Kotak Mahindra Bank, Edelweiss, ICICI BANK and IDFC FIRST Bank. My experience details : Linkedin