6 smart retirement moves to make in your 20s to help you get ahead

Retirement may feel a lifetime away when you’re just starting your career. But planning early can help you set yourself up for success when you do reach retirement age.

For many Americans today, retirement is more likely to bring feelings of insecurity than preparedness.

Just 61% of Americans of all ages (including retirees) feel confident they’ll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, according to the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald Research. That’s down from 67% in 2025, and the lowest level of confidence since 2017.

If you want to ensure you feel confident by the time you retire, the sooner you start saving, the better. And if you’re in your 20s, you can take some important steps over the next several years to make the most of the decades ahead.

Read more: How to start investing: A step-by-step guide

These are the steps experts recommend making today to best help your future self.

Perhaps the most important move you can make is also the simplest: Start saving. Establish a savings habit now that you can continue for decades to come.

Even if you’re only contributing a small amount, get started while time is on your side.

“A lot of times people will be so afraid of doing the wrong thing that they do nothing,” said Kevin Shuller, CFA, CFP, founder and chief investment officer at Cedar Peak Wealth.

Just taking some action can help you feel more prepared. Regardless of the amount they’re contributing, workers of all ages who participate in a retirement plan are more than twice as likely (70% vs. 32% who don’t participate in a retirement plan) to say they’re at least somewhat confident in their financial security in retirement, according to the Retirement Confidence Survey.

Read more: How much money should I have saved by 30?

When you think about retirement savings, there’s a good chance it starts with your employer’s 401(k).

“For a lot of people, just participating in the 401(k), if your employer offers it, gets you most of where you need to go for your 20s,” said Shuller.

And there’s a double benefit: “Number one, the savings come out of your paycheck automatically, so you do not have to think about it. And then you get the added benefit of, for most employers, the match. That’s free money.”

You may not be able to max out your annual 401(k) contributions in your 20s, but a good goal is to contribute enough to get your employer’s full match.

For example, your employer might offer a 100% match on your 401(k) contributions, up to 5% of your salary. In practice, that means you can double the amount you contribute each year just by putting 5% into your 401(k) — before even accounting for growth once that money is in your account and invested. And with automated contributions, you won’t have a chance to miss the money from your paycheck before it’s gone.

A Roth IRA is another tax-advantaged retirement account with major benefits. This account can help supplement your 401(k) retirement savings or offer an alternative if you’re not eligible for a 401(k) through your employer.

“Roth IRAs are absolutely the way to go, especially for younger people,” said Stephen Dissette, investment advisor representative at Horter Investment Management.

Roth IRAs have income limits, so you may not be eligible if you make over a certain amount in the future. That’s one reason to take advantage when you’re young — before you advance in your career. And because these accounts aren’t tied to your employer, you can start saving even if you don’t have a full-time position or a job with retirement benefits.

Roth IRA contributions are made after tax, so your money grows over time and can be withdrawn tax-free when you reach retirement age. This is different from 401(k)s and traditional IRAs; with those accounts, your contributions are made before tax and taxed as income when you withdraw in retirement.

Like your other accounts, you don’t have to max out your contributions to start saving. Invest what you can as early as possible, so you can take advantage of long-term growth.

“With a lot of IRA providers, you can set up an automatic $20 a month going into the IRA,” Shuller said. “Most people can swing that. That’s just one meal that you’re not eating out per month. I think that the idea is to start, no matter how small it is, just to get in the habit.”

An emergency fund may not directly be part of your retirement plan, but it still plays a major role throughout your working years and into retirement. Building your savings cushion now can help you avoid taking on high-interest debt or dipping into retirement savings in the future for unexpected costs or periods of income loss.

Experts recommend an emergency savings goal of three to six months of expenses in a high-yield savings account. But that sum can take time to save. In the meantime, contribute what you can.

“You can put small amounts away,” said Dissette. “I’m not talking crazy numbers, I’m not talking about hundreds of dollars. I’m talking about $25, $50 a pay period or a month.”

What’s more, he said, you can contribute to both your shorter-term emergency savings and long-term retirement savings. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other; just keep adding what you can. “It’s about getting in that right mindset.”

For many young Americans, credit card debt is already a growing obstacle. As of 2025, the average credit card debt for Gen Z was $3,493, according to data from Experian.

Debt payoff won’t directly add to your retirement savings, but it will free up extra cash from interest payments to use toward retirement contributions. In fact, Americans without debt are much more likely to be at least somewhat confident in their retirement savings, according to the Retirement Confidence Survey (85% compared to 32% of workers who say debt is a “major problem”).

The challenge is figuring out how to prioritize debt and savings. On paper, the numbers often favor paying down debt before you start making any retirement contributions, Shuller said. “If you’re paying 25% on your credit card debt, there’s basically no investment that’ll make up for that. So credit card debt needs to be paid off before you start thinking about investing.”

But the reality isn’t so straightforward.

Even while you prioritize debt payoff, Shuller said, “There’s a tremendous amount of value to building the saving habit. Even if it is just $20 a month. The $20 is nice, the habit that you’re building is even more valuable.”

Beyond traditional retirement savings accounts, a life insurance plan may be something to consider as you begin to think about retirement. It may be a way to save for the future beyond annual contribution limits for other retirement accounts.

“Life insurance can be a very strong complement to long-term planning,” Dissette said. Life insurance can help protect your spouse or dependents if anything happens to you, and a cash value policy offers access to cash in the future.

A permanent life insurance policy (like whole or universal life insurance) offers coverage throughout your entire life (unlike term life insurance). You’ll make regular premium payments, and part of those premiums go toward the policy’s cash value, which you can withdraw or take a loan from in the future.

But these policies may not be for everyone. Premiums can be costly, and you may want to use the money toward other retirement accounts. Plus, the benefits may not be as useful if you’re single and have no dependents.