Whether you still have a few years on campus or are approaching your first job, in the next few months there is one thing all of us must begin planning for now — our retirement.

While this concept may seem outrageous, as a majority of individuals are busy just trying to land their first job, in order to enjoy a happy and comfortable retirement, it is important that students and graduates plan accordingly.

According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, by planning on retirement savings at a young age, you can avoid the current issues our parents soon will be facing, as “just one in 10 are confident they can retire comfortably.”

The article explained that if young adults begin to save even a small amount daily, they can rack up a sizeable chunk of change later on in life.

The article touched on a few options for those unsure where to begin as far as saving for retirement. When getting a raise, you can put half into your retirement fund. Additionally, when changing jobs, “roll your retirement fund into a new one; don’t ever take a check … cashing out your retirement fund when you switch jobs is a terrible mistake,” the article explained.

According to another article from CNN Money, in addition to considering the financial planning aspect, it’s also important to plan for your lifestyle during retirement, because “you can’t really know how big a nest egg you’ll need without having an idea of how you want to live in retirement.”     

Although planning and considering what you want to do 40 or 50 years down the road may seem inconceivable, by considering where you may want to be and what you may want to do, you can hopefully plan based on those factors.

A couple of things to think about when planning for your retirement lifestyle are envisioning your future and where you want to live. After thinking about what you may want to do, the article suggested visiting or testing it out. While things will obviously change for young adults, for those closer to retirement, this would be a great way to plan.  

According to an additional article on retirement planning by The Wall Street Journal, when planning on retirement, it’s key to think in terms of living to your maximum age because “[you] can’t count on dying on time. [You] need to plan to live to the maximum age of life for the simple reason that [you] might.”  

This Editorial Board encourages all students and  graduates to sit down and come up with a plan for the future. In order to enjoy retirement, it is important to make saving during the years of employment an immediate priority.

For those who need to brush up on their knowledge of finances, looking into learning about personal finances is important. Whether by signing up for a class at ISU or at your community college back home, or simply buying a book to help explain personal finances, it is a subject we will all need to be aware of whether we like it or not.

Set up a savings account and make it a point to not touch the money you invest, even if a new wardrobe or a video game sounds fun at the time. By avoiding excess spending and racking up debt, perhaps our generation will not have to work into our later years as some are predicting. Planning for the future this early in the game may sound extreme, but like most things go in life, the early bird gets the worm.