• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Retirement Field Guide

Retirement Action Plan

  • About
    • About Ashby
    • Who We Serve
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimers

The Retirement Field Guide

Home Link

The Single Best Piece of Advice for Young Investors

by Ashby Daniels, CFP®

It’s unusual for me to write an article for young investors, but over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with a few young folks. As such, I wanted to share what I think the single best piece of advice for young investors is as they get started in their careers. What is the one thing that is entirely in their control that can most positively impact every other future financial outcome?

I landed on the idea of investing 50% of every raise for your future self. We often underestimate the value of small decisions made over a long period of time. Even for the investor who isn’t currently investing anything and the prospect of investing seems daunting, this simple strategy can overcome a lot of obstacles.

For example, as the image shows, from a starting point of $0 investing, if the investor receives a 3% raise each year and invests 50% of that raise for their future self, in 30 years, they are investing 45% of their salary. If they’re already investing 10% and they start this strategy, they’ll be investing 55% in 30 years.

And they can do that without ever taking a pay cut. It’s almost too simple. And this speaks nothing of additional pay raises, promotions, or any job changes that come about. Regardless of how the pay increase originates, for each and every pay increase, take half and invest it.

The value of this approach is that it can help overcome a lot of potential mistakes along the way. Part of the reason for this is that it can keep your lifestyle from getting out of control which makes your actual retirement goals much more reasonable and easier to achieve.

But the long and the short of it is that - almost regardless of how somebody chooses to invest - if they put away 50% of all raises, the likelihood of achieving their financial goals are drastically increased.

Hence why I believe it’s so important to start the habit early. What I told the young folks I spoke with, and this is the genesis of this article, is that if they don’t remember anything else I have to say, invest 50% of every raise. If they do that, just about everything else is a minor detail.

If you’re a parent or grandparent, I hope you’ll share this one with your children/grandchildren.

Stay the course,
Ashby


If you liked this post, you can subscribe down below. 👇👇

This post is not advice. Please see additional disclaimers.

Filed Under: Financial Planning

Primary Sidebar

Search Blog

Categories

Archives

Footer

Join the Retirement Field Guide Newsletter

Subscribe to get our “Preparing for Retirement: Seven Essentials for Successful Investing in Retirement” whitepaper!

We won't send you spam. Ever. Unsubscribe at any time.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Follow us:

LinkedIn

  • 600 Waterfront Dr Suite 125,
    Pittsburgh, PA 15222
  • (412) 742-4861
  • Email Me

Large Map Directions

Securities offered through Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., member FINRA/SIPC. Raymond James financial advisors may only conduct business with residents of the states and/or jurisdictions for which they are properly registered. Therefore, a response to a request for information may be delayed. Please note that not all of the investments and services mentioned are available in every state. Investors outside of the United States are subject to securities and tax regulations within their applicable jurisdictions that are not addressed on this site. Contact our office for information and availability. Retirement Field Guide and Shorebridge Wealth management are not registered broker/dealers and are independent of Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. member FINRA / SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Raymond James Financial Services Advisors, Inc. Links are being provided for information purposes only. Raymond James is not affiliated with and does not endorse, authorize or sponsor any of the listed websites or their respective sponsors. Raymond James is not responsible for the content of any website or the collection or use of information regarding any website’s users and/or members. Raymond James Corporate Privacy Notice.
FINRA BrokerCheck

Copyright © 2022, Retirement Field Guide. All Rights Reserved.  |  Privacy Policy  |  Design by Tinyfrog Technologies.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
ACCEPTREJECT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via , ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT