Treasurer Curtis Loftis Talks about Why Millennials Need to Think Ahead

November 18, 2016

"I know when I talk about retirement, most millennials don't think they need to listen," said Treasurer Loftis. "But they are the exact people who need to be paying attention. They need to start thinking about their pension and saving for retirement now, before it's too late."

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There is no magic number for how much a person should have saved for retirement. It depends on a lot of variables, including how long they want to work, how much spending money they want in retirement and other variables. The common factor is that most financial advisors and retirees encourage saving for retirement early.

"It's important to start getting millennials to think ahead," Treasurer Loftis said. "It's vital to get them to start a conversation about retirement when they get a job. To ask their employer how they can start saving."

US News reports forty-eight percent of all Americans aged 18 to 30 have zero in retirement savings and no access to a traditional pension, according to a GenForward poll by the Black Youth Project at the University of Chicago with the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

More than 4 in 10 of those aged 25 to 30 have nothing for retirement.

"This poll shows that while most millennials aren't thinking ahead toward retirement, some couldn't even start if they wanted to since they don't have access to a traditional pension," added Treasurer Loftis. "Here in South Carolina, working for the state and having a pension is a great benefit, and our lawmakers need to make sure that we fix the system for the upcoming millennial workers."