[ibimage==31659==Large==none==self==null]

So you graduated college in the last year or two and you’re still under 25.

You’re feeling pretty darn confident about your financial planning skills, so much so that you’re cocky about the whole thing.

You’ve got a steady income.

You’re able to stay within your daily budget, pay for groceries, drink better beer than you did in your college days, and you still have money left over for those things called rent and student loan payments.

I know this, because I’ve looked into my magic crystal ball and seen your financial future.

Here’s What Happens Next

After you turn 25, you’re going to feel less and less confident, this will continue into your 30’s and mid 40s, then your confidence will rise back up again and stay that way until death.

It’s okay, I’ve seen this for myself as well.

Facts Not Fortune

Fact is, I’m not really looking into a magic crystal ball that we have here at the Self Lender office to predict your future.

I’ve just reviewed the data from LearnVest’s “Financial Confidence: Examining the U-Curve– and How We Might Improve the Confidence Trajectory.”

As you might be able to deduct from the title, LearnVest has produced this white paper to inform you that “by knowing what’s ahead and what it may take to meet future responsibilities, people can make financial decisions today that take both their current and future lifestyles into account”(21).

This Is What You Do

On your 25th birthday go open a ROTH IRA or some type of retirement account, because “people who had a plan for either emergency savings or retirement were nearly twice as likely to feel in control over their finances”(21).

Even if you’re over 25 and you’ve read this far, now in the perfect time to start putting some of your extra money away into a retirement savings account.

If anything you’ll feel more confident in your thirties and early forties, ultimately so you can have less worries as a father, mother, wife, husband, astronaut, business executive, peacemaker, or what have you.