don’t wait till 40 to start saving for retirement …you will lose out on free money ..

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if you wait till 40 to start saving for retirement , you will lose out on the appreciation in the stock market …

In your 20s, your finances may be stretched too thin to comfortably set aside a lot of money for retirement, Lester says. That’s OK — but don’t wait forever.

“In your early 20s, missing a year isn’t that big a deal,” .. “But one of the tragedies of missing those early contributions, especially if it’s into a retirement account and there’s a company match, is that you’re missing out on free money and you’re not going to get that back.”

When you begin setting aside money for retirement early, your money has more time to grow through the power of compound interest. Plus, you need to contribute a smaller portion of your annual earnings than if you begin contributing when you’re older.

Experts generally advise setting aside 15% of your annual income, including any company match.

However, that percentage surges to 25% or higher if you wait until you’re 40 or older to begin.

Say your goal is to retire with $1 million by 65. If you begin contributing at 25 and earn a 7% annual rate of return, you’d need to set aside $381 per month to reach your goal . But if you start at 40, you’d need to save around $1,234 per month to meet the same goal.

Ultimately, setting aside even a small amount of money for retirement early on can benefit you two-fold. For one, you give your money a longer amount of time to grow. And two, you start getting into the habit of saving, which makes it easier to continue to do so in the long term ..

“You’re starting to build the savings muscle, and then it gradually becomes less scary, less intimidating, less frightening,” .

“You start redefining yourself as someone who saves and invests, and it sets you on a lifelong path to having choices as you age.”