The average 20-something or 30-something spends around 44 percent of their food dollars—nearly $3,500 annually—on eating out. A big bite of that is on lunch. If you pack your lunch at home this year, you’ll be able to invest that money into a retirement account, according to Anne Lester,a retirement expert, author, media commentator, top-rated speaker and former Head of Retirement Solutions for JPMorgan Asset Management.
“I get it; making your own lunch and bringing it to the office is a total drag,” says Lester. “But consider what would happen if you took just $5 out of your daily food budget and invested it in a retirement account instead of a gourmet cup of coffee? Within five years, and assuming typical market returns of 7 percent, you’d have around $13,000. Keep it up for forty years, and you’ll have over $400,000. If you forgo the food truck altogether and invest $15 daily, you’d have over $1.2 million at retirement. Suddenly that coffee looks a lot more expensive.”
In her forthcoming book, Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want (William Morrow, 2024), Lester provides actionable solutions for the unique challenges Millennials and Gen Z face while saving for their future. Drawing on her own personal experience, humor, latest research, and fresh case studies, Lester meets readers where they are and helps them understand their behaviors around money, balance saving with paying off debt and big life goals, and build a retirement stash.
Lester is also a media commentator and regular contributor on personal finance and retirement issues. She has been featured on outlets including Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Barron’s. She also co-founded The Aspen Leadership Forum on Retirement Savings with AARP.