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The Trump Administration has turned its focus towards the Social Security Administration as it proceeds with its trimming of the federal government.

Social Security is still running out of money—projected to be depleted by 2034. Whatever Social Security looks like in 10 years, it will probably be different.

While previous generations’ retirement looked like nice pensions, the summer villa, and golfing, your retirement is on you. The Social Security safety net is looking more like your ratchet ripped jeans from high school.

So you’re going to have to start planning for retirement. Now.

You don’t need to be rich or have a job to start planning for retirement. Here is a simple checklist to start taking steps towards that future villa in the Maldives.

If you have any earned income, even from a part-time job, you can open a Roth IRA. You contribute after-tax dollars now, and it grows tax-free. Future you will kiss your face, on the face.

A simple way to get an account is to search “Fidelity Roth IRA,” and you can set one up pretty quick. If you don’t have a job you can still open a brokerage account by searching for that instead.

Note: A Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account) is for retirement. Make sure you won’t need the funds you deposit into it. There are penalties for early withdrawal.

The goal is to save 15% of your income for retirement. If you can do that now, start with that. If that’s not feasible for you, start with as low as 1-5%.

It doesn’t matter how small the sum is. You can invest with as low as a dollar (why I recommend Fidelity for investing), and building up the habit and learning how to invest is half the effort.

Putting money in a regular savings account is good, but I’m asking you to go a step further here. Inflation will eat at the value of your cash quicker than a student on some ramen before finals.

Once you have deposited some money into your Roth IRA, actually buy into a stock (like Apple) or index fund (like VOO) so your money isn’t just sitting.

These three steps are simple. But take them seriously.

People get caught up saying “I don’t have enough money to invest,” or “I’ll start investing when I get a real job.” Statements like these disempower you from taking charge of your finances now.

Starting this process now, EVEN IF you don’t have a bunch of money to invest (again, $1 is enough), and EVEN IF you don’t have a stable income will help educate and build an important habit right now.

That way when you do have a stable income, you’ll already know what to do with it.

There’s a general equation that is used to calculate how much you’ll need to have invested to live at a certain annual income. This is called the 4% Rule:

Your annual retirement income ≈ 4% of your total investments

So if you want to live on $80k/year in retirement then $80,000 ÷ 0.04 = $2,000,000.

I like this equation because it gives some idea of how much you need to save. Having a number is powerful, and provides a goal to shoot for. That said, it has its limits:

These numbers may look big, but a mountain is hiked one step at a time. The sooner you take that step, the sooner you reach the top!

And the younger you are, the more compound interest makes that hike easier.

Start investing in a Roth IRA at 20 or 22, and by 60-65 you’ll likely hit your goal. If you wait until 32 you’ll need to double your monthly contribution, just to reach the same amount.

Talk to 65 year-old you.

Think of the unimaginable. You’re old, decrepit, and 65. Death is basically right around the corner.

Except you could have another 30 years before your unfortunate demise (Sorry to see you go!). So what do you want to fill that time with?

Think about how you’re going to spend your golden years (aging like fine wine I’m sure) and try to come up with a number of how much that’s gonna cost per year. This is how much your retirement will cost annually.

Now use the 4% rule to figure out how much you’ll need to have invested, and you can use this investment calculator to experiment with how you can get to that number.

The future is uncertain, but if you take these steps you don’t need to guess about what you need to do to achieve your dream retirement.

The Maldives are just a hop, skip, and a jump away! ;)

Happy Spring!