I’m 25, living well and saving nothing — am I doing something wrong?

[Alex Hales]

Hey everyone. I’m 25 and honestly I’ve been living pretty good. Nice apartment, eat out whenever I want, weekend trips, new clothes, the whole thing. I work hard, I earn it, and I spend it. Simple.

But lately something’s been bugging me. I looked at my savings account and… there’s basically nothing there. No emergency fund. No investments. Just vibes and memories, I guess lol.

And here’s the thing — everyone around me is doing the same. My friends, my coworkers, we’re all out here living our best life, posting the trips and the dinners. Nobody’s talking about savings. And when someone does bring it up, it’s “you’re only 25 once, enjoy it!”

But then I see people in their 40s saying “I wish I started saving at 25” and it kind of hits different.

So I’m stuck. I genuinely don’t know if I’m being smart by enjoying my youth, or dumb by not saving a single dollar.

My real questions:

Is 25 too early to start stressing about savings, or is this exactly when I should start?

How do you balance living now vs saving for a future that feels so far away?

Do you regret how you spent your 20s? Did you save or did you live?

What’s the ONE thing you’d tell your 25-year-old self about money?

I’m not looking to be told I’m terrible. I know I need to change something. I just want honest advice from people who’ve actually lived through their 20s and can tell me what actually mattered.

Is it okay to live like this at 25? Or am I wasting the most important years for saving?

Thanks.

— a confused 25-year-old

[Uncle John]

Ha, hey kiddo, Uncle John here. Everybody calls me that, so you’re stuck with it too. 😄

I’m retiring from my software job next year, so I’ve been around long enough to watch this movie play out a few times. Short answer: no, 25 isn’t too early. It’s the best time to start, and it doesn’t cost you your fun.

Nobody’s telling you to stop living. The trips and dinners are good memories, and you should keep some of them. But your friends saying “you’re only 25 once” are right about the 25 part. They just skip the part where life also sends bills. Car dies, job gets cut, someone in the family gets sick, and suddenly you’re 30 with no cushion and a lot of stress. That’s the “sad” moment I see happen to people, and it’s almost always avoidable.

So here’s what I’d do. Start small, like really small. Even $100 a month is fine. Put it in a savings account first, until you’ve got a few months of rent and bills sitting there. After that, throw a bit into a simple index fund and leave it alone. Set it to come out of your paycheck automatically, because if you have to remember, you won’t.

Here’s the part nobody says out loud: the amount matters way less than the habit. The $100 you start now will do more for you than the $1,000 you promise yourself next year. Time does the heavy lifting, and you’ve got plenty of it.

The one thing I’d tell my 25-year-old self is: pay yourself before you pay for fun. Spend whatever’s left and don’t feel guilty about it, because that’s the deal that lets you enjoy it for real.

You’re asking the right questions at the right age, so you’re already ahead of most of your friends. Go easy on yourself and just start. 👍

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