Being in the 20s signify crucial steps in your life: graduating the university, starting a career, and perhaps deciding where you’d want to live or who you’d want to marry. However, there’s one thing that most of us tend to overlook during this time: saving for retirement. The good news is if you’re reading this, then it’s still not too late for you to start saving. Here, we’ve listed five ways on how you can effectively start saving for your retirement even if you’re still in your 20s.

1. Give to Yourself First

Similar with the wisdom “pay yourself first” that was introduced in the book Richest Man in Babylon, this trick simply means that whenever you an income coming in, you should set a certain amount of it for yourself first. It should be applied towards retirement as well, and you can start by taking advantage of an employer sponsored account, or by setting up an automatic contributions. With this, saving for your retirement becomes automatic and a habit.

2. Limit Your Spending

Controlling your expenditures is one of the best ways for you to start saving for retirement. Not only does it allow you to save some money, it also teaches you to invest them wisely. Just to be clear though, limiting your expenditures doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to enjoy your hard-earned money now, it just means that you do so intentionally.

3. Free Yourself From Debt

Just like limiting your expenditures, getting out of debt will also give you more money to save for your retirement later on. The money you’re paying the bank for your loans or debts can be the money that goes into your retirement account. Still, not all debts are created equal. If you have a mortgage or student loans, then those items are considered ‘good debts’. But if you have a high-interest credit card debt, then do yourself a favour by getting rid of it as soon as possible.

4. Set Up a Retirement Account

Opening a self-directed retirement account is perhaps the easiest way for you to save for your retirement. However, consider doing some research first since most self-directed retirement accounts offer mutual fund options that allows you to invest in multiple stocks. Also, understand that there’s a certain risk and reward for setting up a self-directed retirement account.

5. Be Aggressive

Your 20s is the time where you establish your earning power – and presumably, your income will increase in due time. This is the reason why financial experts recommend taking a more aggressive approach in using your investment tools to grow your retirement account. Right now you just everything to gain.

Your 20s is the best time to save up money and invest it on your retirement plan. So make sure that you keep these tips in mind as you start setting up your personal retirement account.