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Tips to Assist College Students in Handling Credit Wisely

How much do I need to fund my retirement?

What do Savings Accounts and PCs have in Common?
Save Early and Save Often
You’ve probably heard your parents or grandparents talk about “saving for a rainy day.” Ever wonder when that rainy day might come? What are they saving it for? You can’t take it with you, right? That seems to be how many people feel today—and not just teenagers. We live in a society of spenders, not savers. In fact, the savings rate among Americans is less than 3 percent. That means we instantly spend nearly everything we earn! You may be asking: So what’s wrong with that?

Why should I save?
There are three simple reasons why you should start saving money now and keep saving:

Learn how to work toward and achieve a financial goal. By setting a specific goal for your savings, like a car, college, your first home or the trip of a lifetime, you learn how to manage your money in a way that prioritizes the things that are important to you. Without a plan and a goal, it’s easy to spend your money on a whim and then miss out on the really important things in your life.
Stuff happens—be prepared for financial emergencies. The car breaks down. You lose your job. You get hurt or sick. There are a million scenarios that could unfold that would put a cramp in your everyday spending. With a strong savings habit, you have something to fall back on if unexpected expenses come up. Plus, when you have that savings, these unexpected issues suddenly become a lot less stressful.
You may want to retire someday. It may be hard to fathom retirement when you’re still in school, but think about this for a minute. If you start working when you are 18 and work for 45 years, you would be 63 at retirement. Now let’s say you plan to live into your early 80s. You need to save enough money to live on for 20 years. After you’ve worked for 45 years, you deserve to be able to live comfortably. Plus, more and more experts agree that Social Security is not likely to be around for your generation. That means it’s time to start saving now because it’s up to you to fully-fund your retirement

How can I save?
“How can I save money when I don’t have any money to save?” Has that thought crossed your mind? The easiest way to save is to look for things you are spending money on that you could do without and not have a significant impact on your lifestyle. Here are some suggestions:

Skip your morning latte one day a week	$20 per month
Eat out one less meal per month	$20 per month
Drink filtered tap water in a reusable bottle instead of buying bottled water	$20 per month
Download/Rent a movie instead of going to a theater one time a month	$20 per month

Total is $80 per month saved—that’s $960 a year!

How much should I save?
Here’s a good rule of thumb for how much you should be saving—of course, only you can decide what’s appropriate for your individual situation: Basically, the older you get, the more you should save. This works out well because most people also earn more as they get older.

Take your current age and divide it by 2. Now stick a percent symbol on the end of your answer—that’s how much you should be saving. So if you’re 18 years old, you should be saving 9% of everything you earn.
(18 ÷ 2 = 9)

Regardless of how much you save or how you save, the important thing is that you start saving now. Save early and save often. Think of it like you would your computer. When you’re working on something really important, the smart thing to do is to save early and save often to protect what you’re working toward.