Had a talk with my 65 year old neighbor about retirement savings and it stung

I was out watering my plants last weekend and Mr. Patterson started chatting with me about his plans to sell his house and move to a cheaper state. He said he wished he'd started putting money away in his 20s like I'm doing now. Thing is, I only have about $3,000 in my 401k from my job at the accounting firm and I'm 31. He told me even $50 a month at my age would turn into something big by the time I hit 60. It hit me that I've been telling myself I'll get serious about saving later for like 5 years now. Has anyone else had that moment where someone older just casually dropped a truth bomb about money?

3 comments

3 Comments

miller.rowan1mo ago

That neighbor is probably right but at the same time $50 a month in your 20s isn't gonna make you rich either. You'd end up with maybe $60k if the market does well which is nice but not life changing money by 60.

rowan9691mo ago

Wait, only $60k after 40 years of saving $50 a month? That can't be right... even a basic savings account would give you more than that with compound interest over that long. Something about that number feels way off to me.

charles_mitchell1mo ago

Do the math on inflation eating half of that too lol.