Grad Students, Start Saving for Retirement Now
For Ph.D. students in particular, the opportunity cost of brushing retirement planning under the rug can be colossal in the long run, Fahad Sajid warns.
"Saving for retirement as a graduate student is a topic that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves in higher education circles [...] the opportunity cost of brushing retirement planning under the rug can be colossal in the long run. In fact, it can be more-than-a-million-dollars kind of colossal. [...] My advice to graduate students, then, is to start as soon as possible. When it comes to saving, it’s never too late. And even if you can’t max out your Roth IRA every year, just do what you can, because every little bit matters.
Fahad Sajid is assistant director of graduate employer relations at the University of Chicago, where he received his Ph.D. in political science.