I'm only $3,000 in so far, but 20 more years of doing this and it will be pretty substantial. When I'm sitting on something like that, I can maybe step out of the workforce at a younger age or I can do something that I love that wouldn't otherwise give me sufficient income.
I'm a senior in high school and I got a job a year and a half ago at a restaurant. During the summer, I work four days a week. And during the school year, I work two to three nights a week.
My parents and I opened a bank account, and I started putting all my paychecks and half my tips away. The other half of my tips I'll spend on things like gas and food. The tips are harder to put away because they're cash, right there in front of me. But the rest of it goes in the bank account and I think of it as untouchable.
It all started from my mom. Even before I started working, she would give me a cut below my birthday money and put the rest away in my account. It would come out in bits and pieces throughout the year when I needed it, but a lot of that birthday money was saved away. So when work started it was a no-brainer to do the same. It's pretty nice to think I could have it 60 years from now.
A quarter of middle class Americans plan to delay retirement until they are at least 80 years old.
