Am I too Young for a 401k?

You are never too young to start investing in your future, so you're never too young for a 401k. As long as you're 18 and have a job where they are offering you one as a benefit at your job then you are good to go. But why would you want to take some money out of your check each month to save for retirement when it's so far away? Well, there are a number of reasons!

If your employer offers a retirement savings account, they probably also offer a contribution match. This means that they will contribute to your account if you do up to a certain percentage of your income. So if you contribute two percent of your income, they will also contribute that amount of money. Two percent sounds small but over time this adds up, earns returns through investments, and becomes your savings. If you don't take advantage of it this is money you are losing out on.

The longer your money sits in the account, being invested and growing returns, the more money you will have when you reach retirement age (59 years and 6 months old) and can start making withdrawals.

Don't think of it as investing in a retirement account, think of it as investing in a future you want to have. Once you're able to stop working, what is it you want to do with your time? That is what you will have in retirement--time. What you will do with that time will probably cost money. If you don't save enough you could end up without enough funds to do the things you want to, like travel around the world, spoil your grandchildren, or take art classes. Instead you could be working part time and remorseful that you didn't get on this sooner. No matter how young you are, it's never to early to start investing and make your dreams a reality.