I wanted to make this post for those that may be disheartened about retirement planning. It’s easy to lurk this sub and see people making 100K+ out of school in their early 20s and amassing high net worth quickly. This kind of post can be disheartening to those late bloomers like it was to me once upon a time. It’s also easy to see people contributing max to their Roth and 401K and say “Wow, I’ll never be able to contribute that much, it’s not even worth trying!”
Remember! It’s a marathon, not a sprint!
I didn’t contribute a penny to my retirement until I was 24 years old. I started with an initial investment of 2K and set up auto contributions for $200/month.
Fast forward 6.5 years and I just hit 50K cumulative in my retirement accounts and am so excited for such a big milestone. If you do the math, that works out to nearly 8K per year - but I didn’t contribute anywhere near this on average. Probably more like half, 4K.
There were a few years that I maxed out my Roth IRA but most years I would change my contribution rate every few months because I was making a bit more or less at work. I am not a great investor but I am patient and have a high risk tolerance, never sold any shares only kept buying no matter what the market was doing.
In this 6.5 years, I went back to college, got a degree, and changed careers. I don’t intend for this to be a brag post (although I am super proud of myself), I only intend for it to spark a little hope in someone that may be doesn’t see the power of compounded interest and patience in retirement planning. Maybe I’ll never make 100K* a year, one day, I’m gonna retire! If I can do it, so can you!
TLDR: Retirement investing is a marathon, not a sprint. Compounded interest is an amazing thing! Stay the course!
Submitted April 16, 2021 at 05:06PM by OddConfidence0 https://ift.tt/32pVXn6
