Reading the replies is giving me anxiety. Listen to me, children, if you are in the US and your company offers a 401k or some other sort of retirement benefit, get in on that shit. I believe most companies will do some sort of match, so for example, if you put in 3% of your paycheck into the 401k, the company will also put in 3% on their end, which means you're getting 6% a year in your retirement fund (not including any stock market gains or losses, which historically has been an average of about +7% a year, even factoring in the years it crashed). Even my grocery store job (ily unions) and the shitty temp agency I worked for for 2 weeks without a college degree offered a 401k. However, if you do not work for a place that offers a 401k, you can sign up for an IRA (individual retirement account) or Roth IRA through a brokerage firm. Mine is through Fidelity.
I didn't think I'd make it past my 20s either, but you know what? Maybe one day you'll wake up and realize damn, I'm 30/40/50. It's easier to put away even $5 a month now and leave it alone to compound interest than it is to wake up one day realizing you're in your 60s and have saved nothing for the future. (Obviously if you can put away more, do.)
And if you do die young, you can name a beneficiary (family, friends, a nonprofit, etc.) for the money you've accumulated in that 401k. This is a good primer. (Shout out to investopedia, which saved my ass more times than I can count in college.)
I also recommend @bitchesgetriches, who are great at explaining financial advice in an easy to understand way.
It's not too late. Better late than never.
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