High School Students: Saving for the Future

Saving for the Future

Begin saving now and you’ll be surprised by how much your wealth will grow. Follow these simple tips for saving success.

Habits are hard to break, so make savings a habit. Identify an amount that you can comfortably save each time you get paid. As saving becomes routine, you’ll be in a better position to increase your monthly savings as your income increases.
The earlier and more frequently you save, the quicker your money will grow. Starting early gives you the opportunity to take advantage of compound interest. Compound interest is when interest earns interest – that’s free money!
Check out our Your Money Matters guide for high school students for more information about budgeting, saving, student loan management, banking and consumer credit.

::Savings Chart:: This chart shows how much money you'll have by age 65, thanks to the power of compounding interest. It assumes a 5 percent return, compounded annually, and assumes the saver will continue to save the same amount each week until age 65.
Age	$10 each week	$25 each week	$50 each week
20	$85,143	$212,859	$425,176
30	$48,154	$120,385	$240,768
40	$25,445	$63,614	$127,227
50	$11,504	$28,761	$57,522

This cost of delay chart shows how delaying saving, by just one year, affects the overall total in the account. For example, if you start saving $25 a week at age 21, instead of age 20, and continue to save $25 a week until you're 65, you'd lose $11,406 by waiting one year! So, start saving now and continue to make it a habit.

::Cost of Delay Chart:: The chart shows how much money you'll lose by waiting a year to start saving. It assumes a 5 percent return, compounded annually, and assumes the saver will continue to save the same amount each week until age 65.
Age	$10 each week	$25 each week	$50 each week
20	- $4,562	- $11,406	- $22,811
30	- $2,801	- $7,002	- $14,003
40	- $1,719	- $4,299	- $8,597
50	- $1,055	- $2,639	- $5,278

Treat savings like a bill and pay it first. Each time you get paid, before you pay any other expenses, put money into your savings account. If you wait until the end of the month to save what’s left over, there won’t be anything left.

Once your saving routine is established, work on creating an emergency fund. It’s never fun to be caught off guard by an unexpected expense, so if you have some cash put away, you’ll be prepared for any surprises. An emergency may not mean catastrophe, it might be as simple as needing new tires. That’s not something you think about every day, but tires don’t last forever, so it’s good to be prepared.

Once your emergency fund is stocked, then it’s time to save for fun stuff. Would you like to go on a great summer vacation, take the summer off to prepare for college or upgrade your car to something newer and more reliable? Whatever your goal is, saving is how to reach it.