I remember when I got my first job. I was a Junior in high school and worked for $7.25 an hour as a dietary aide in a nursing home. That first feeling of financial freedom of having an income, while also having to work for it, has been something that has stuck with me.
When you first have the ability to purchase for yourself the things you need and want is one of those bliss's of youth. As I got older, and my costs of living increased, I watched my income not keep pace, and it was not until I first broke into the professional world that I felt that feeling again. But as I looked to start my family, I felt that budget tighten and tighten.
The solution is to either work more, or to find additional sources of income, but as much as we all love to work, (sarcasm implied - but for real, you should feel enjoyment and satisfaction from your work or you should consider making changes); the overall goal of most is to no longer have to work - to retire.
Unfortunately in our current social-economic reality, and especially now during this pandemic, sadly that isn't possible and in a recent survey of Americans last year by AARP, 20% said that having a job was in their dreams of retirement. This is up from 10% and as time goes on, realistically that number will continue to increase.
That is not retirement my friends, unless you truly enjoy working, which some do. But for the rest of us, the ability to actually retire, and to weather economic hardship, is to budget, save, and to try to make your money work for you.
Making Your Money Work For You
Now the main idea behind budgeting, is where is your money coming from, where is it going, and which number is higher. we all hope and work hard to make sure that it’s the coming in that’s higher, but unfortunately since wages have not kept up with cost of living increases; the margins people can save decrease every year.
That's why one of the best tools I have to start saving for retirement, no matter your age, is a little app called Acorns. I began using Acorns 3-4 years ago, and since then I have built up over a grand in savings and investments, all without any major deposits! (And one silly withdrawal - don’t do that.)
What the app does is really cool! It rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar, and invests those pennies into partial shares. if something costs $1.99, you invest $0.01, if something is $2.45, you invest $0.55. In addition to these round ups, I also invest an additional $10 a month.
From these small numbers and starting with $5, in 40 years my portfolio is projected to be worth over 90k - while only having me invest about 20k of that. As my income hopefully grows, the amount I can invest will grow, and that, is how you can make your money work for you!
I do recommend Acorns, but I am not a financial advisor. Anytime you are investing money, especially in a market that is expected to be volatile, you can lose money in the short or long term. Everything in life has a risk, and you have to make a personal decision, but I can say that this is something that I personally use and have used for years.
If you sign up using this following link, both you and I will receive $5 towards our portfolios. Start investing with Acorns today! Get $5 when you use my invite link: U32VJV https://www.acorns.com/invite/U32VJV
And if you found this post helpful, please hit that heart button and share the post! Thanks for reading! Have a great rest of your week and stay safe!
Edleson, Harriet. “More Americans Working or Looking for Work After 65.” AARP. AARP, April 22, 2019. https://www.aarp.org/work/employers/info-2019/americans-working-past-65.html.