One of the hardest lessons to learn when I was a young person and just beginning my career was the value of immediately saving money for retirement. At the starting salary level, money is so tight, the amounts that can be put toward retirement are so small, and the earliest possible retirement is so far into the future, it’s easy to rationalize deferring the commencement of retirement savings until next year–or the year after that. And even if you do follow the advice of retirement planners when you are in your 20s, the periodic reports of the balance in your retirement fund show very small amounts and very modest increases, and you wonder if you will ever get to the point of having enough for retirement.
But if you keep your head down, and keep at it, and make that monthly contribution standard practice–and, hopefully, you see the benefits that can come when your retirement fund is boosted by a few good years in the stock market–you realize that your elders were right. As the likely date for retirement draws nearer and nearer, and the end of your work career comes increasingly into focus, you see the value of those modest payments you made way back when–and even more important, the value of checking the box to start that retirement plan withholding and then accepting those regular paycheck deductions in the first place.
That’s why it is sad for me to see a report on CNN about falling 401(k) balances. The latest annual report by Vanguard, an investment firm that manages retirement plans for millions of people, states that average 401(k) balances fell from $141,542 in 2021 to $112,572 in 2022. That’s a 20 percent decrease, caused largely by the poor performance of the equity and fixed income markets last year. Even worse, the median balance in 401(k) plans–the median being the point at which half of all plans have a higher balance, and half have a lower balance–fell from $35,345 in 2021 to $27,376 in 2022. And most troubling of all, the number of people who are making hardship and non-hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings accounts increased, too. Those people are eating their seed corn.
From these statistics, it’s not hard to imagine the people starting out in these careers seeing their retirement fund balances go down, feeling dispirited, and wondering whether the immediate sacrifice is worth the hoped-for future gain–or whether it wouldn’t be better to just use the money now, when times are tight. I hope those individuals have people in their lives who can advise them that a little belt-tightening now will pay significant dividends later, and that you need to take the long-term view, and recognize that the markets will have down years and up years. It’s wise not to become too exuberant during the flush times and too despondent during the down times.
As any hen would tell you, laying a nest egg is hard work. But if you start early, and keep at it, you’ll be surprised at what you can accomplish. Your older self will thank your younger self for the sacrifice and for being the ant, and not the grasshopper.