You say you can't save, but you find money for a car payment. Automate $25, $50, or $100 from each paycheck into a 401(k) before it hits your checking account. Three months of small contributions compound into real money over ten to fifteen years.
I can't afford to save. And I've heard that for many years, but let me ask you something. Suppose your car breaks down tomorrow and it's done, and you need to get another car to get to work. So you go to the dealer, buy a new car, or maybe a new used car, and suddenly you have a $300, $400, or maybe a new $600 car payment. And guess what happens the very next month? You make the payment. Now, where'd that money come from? Somehow you adjusted. You figured it out. That's why after 40 years of working with people who live paycheck to paycheck, I've learned something. Most people are capable of saving more than they believe they can. The problem is we wait to save whatever is left over, and there's never anything left over. So stop waiting. Have $25, $50, $100 automatically taken out of every paycheck, put into your 401 or any other retirement plan or another savings account before you ever see it. Try for three months, and if you truly can't make it, then you change it. But I think most of us are going to discover something: you're going to adjust just like you adjusted to that car payment. And ten or fifteen years from now, well, those little amounts of money can completely change your financial life. Building wealth takes time, but building wealth starts the moment you stop saying I can't save and start paying yourself like it's a bill. Now, if you want to learn how financial coaching and financial education can change your life, click the link in my bio.
