Millennials: Don't Fear the Market
The Great Recession had quite an impact on everyone, but it seems to have made a particularly deep impression on millennials. A recent Bankrate survey found that only one-third of millennials invest in the stock market through either a retirement savings account or a standard brokerage account. That's unfortunate, because the other two-thirds are missing out on the biggest opportunity to make their money grow.
The millennials who participated in the Bankrate survey were asked why they didn't invest in stocks, and the most common answer they gave was that they couldn't afford to. In reality, you can't afford not to save at least a little money: The sooner you start saving for retirement, the less money you'll need to save overall in order to fund a happy retirement, because money you invest early has more time to grow. And during the early part of your career, the stock market is the best possible place for those retirement funds. Sure, the stock market is guaranteed to take some deep dives during your lifetime, but since you don't need to touch the money for decades, that won't matter. As long as you don't touch those stocks until you're ready to retire, they'll have plenty of time to recover their value and then some. Even if you're only saving 2% of your salary in the company 401(k), or $50 a month in an IRA, you're doing something to protect your future.
Image source: Getty images.
Source: Fool.com
