Twentysomething is not the time to worry about your retirement
The GuardianCONVENTIONAL wisdom says that people in their twenties should save for
their pension as early as possible, but for the vast majority this is
unrealistic .
Under the age of 30, retirement is too far away to be a
motivating factor. Today's 20-year-olds may not retire until they are
70. What will the world look like then? Does it now look like the world
of 1956? So which rational individual would tie up money for the next
50 years?
It's also impractical because an increasing percentage of young people
have large debts. So advocating significant saving for retirement in 50
years' time is not just pointless, it's contrary to sensible financial
planning.
I'm
not saying they should spend, spend, spend. Every month, some pay
should be put aside for the future. People should put paying off
high-interest debt first, put away some 'rainy day' money in case of an
emergency, and then to try to get on the housing ladder.
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