Starting to invest at an early age, it becomes second nature and you never really miss the funds you contribute. If you wait to start saving, it never gets any easier.
“My father taught me to save for the future. He didn’t have a college education, but he lived through the Great Depression. He knew the power of saving and encouraged me to invest over time and let stock appreciation and dividends accumulate so I would have funds later in life.
“I started working in the auto industry when I graduated from college. I have a Master’s Degree in Business and my college major was Finance, so investing was something I was very familiar with. Initially, I opened a self-directed IRA account because there were tax advantages for making annual contributions. Later, I began contributing to my 401(k) plan at work because I wanted to take advantage of my company’s matching contributions. That was 40 years ago. I have now been retired for two years, and I am living off my retirement savings.
“When you’re young and first working, you have many needs for the present and retirement seems so far away... [but] starting to invest at an early age, it becomes second nature and you never really miss the funds you contribute. If you wait to start saving, it never gets any easier.
“If investing is foreign to you, then speak with someone with some investing experience.... the hardest thing is getting started. Once you’re started, it becomes a way of life.”
Photograph & interview by Natalie Stephens
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