Ok, so waking up late and running around like crazy isn’t fun. And most people don’t want to be perpetually late to appointments. Although I did hear that the actress Liz Taylor wrote in her will that her casket should arrive 15 minutes late to her own funeral. Sounds like she had the last laugh. Not bad.
Sometimes it’s good to be late. As you know, the early bird gets the worm. And as others have pointed out, what about the early worm? Yeah, eaten.
So, what about in the financial world? Isn’t it good to start saving early? Absolutely. I wish everyone who turned 18 received an IRA and some seed money to start saving for retirement. It’s a real advantage to start early. Pass this advice on to all the young people you know. They’ll spend many retired years thanking you.
Having sung the praises of starting early, plenty of people have started things late in life and done well. I think of life sometimes like a good bottle of wine. Few wines are good when they’re opened too early. And the best ones just get better with time. We all want to give retirement accounts plenty of time to age before we need them. But if you or someone you know is starting out a little later than planned, there are rules designed to help. If you’re over 50 you can add catch-up contributions to workplace retirement accounts and IRAs. It’s also at this time of life when your income is likely to be at its highest. Take advantage and get that savings train running.
And what about your career? What if you’ve been working hard at something but just don’t feel it’s what you want to do? Here is a story for you. Dorothy Steel started acting at age 88. You know there was someone in her life who said, “Dorothy, what are you doing starting to act at age 88?” She’s 91 now. Her latest acting credit is as an elder in the new movie Black Panther.
Kristin Rodriguez
Want to know the latest amounts you can contribute to retirement savings accounts? Click here.