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Thank you DiversyFund for sponsoring this post. It’s never too early to learn about investing for your future!

I have been an entrepreneur for eight years, and I am very conscious of my future financial goals. This year alone has made me more aware that I need to think more about my financial future, and start working on securing my retirement now. More and more younger Americans aren’t even counting on full Social Security benefits when they retire. Only 13% of millennials (defined here as those born between 1981 and 1997) expect to rely on Social Security as their primary source of income during retirement, according to Wells Fargo’s 2019 annual retirement study.

Freelancers, solopreneurs and small-business owners like myself take huge risks by choosing self-employment over traditional careers. Not only do we give up the security of steady paychecks, but access to certain benefits such as a company 401k to help them save for retirement. It can be intimidating as a full-time entrepreneur, due to an inconsistent income, to research and establish your retirement savings on your own. Don’t be intimidated to create a plan for your retirement and to build long-term wealth for your retirement savings and your business. Here are some tips:

Make retirement savings a priority

You should definitely have retirement accounts open right now. But during this time, you should check back in and make it your priority. Make sure you are putting a large chunk of your income towards your retirement savings and take advantage of any employer match. The money you invest today has the greatest opportunity to earn compound interest and increase your wealth for the rest of your working years.

Start Investing

Invest early and invest often! Starting with small amounts is the key to success, even if you are starting small with your business revenue. Investing in real estate for $500, opening up a high yield savings account, and becoming more familiar with the stock market are all things you need to take advantage of while you still have time on your side to grow your money.

Have a savings goal

A great savings goal would be half of your annual salary. At the minimum, save 15% of your income with no exception annually.

Look into a solo 401(k) – the entrepreneur 401k plan. A Solo 401(k) is a retirement account designed for the self-employed, or business owners with no full-time employees. A Solo or Individual 401(k) plan offers many of the same benefits of a traditional 401(k), but with a few alternative options. The benefits of having this plan is these contributions can reduce your personal taxable income for the current tax year and grow tax-free until you start taking distributions at retirement age—then the distributions will be taxed as regular income.

Build a more diverse investment portfolio

Having a solo 401(k) plan allows an entrepreneur to make contributions both as an employee and as an employer. This allows one to maximize their contributions to the retirement account and also make deductions on their tax return. The most responsible thing you can do to build for retirement and wealth building is diversifying your portfolio. It’s important to start with researching and investing into domestic and international stocks, bonds, and real estate.

Short term investments like cash, CDs, money market investments are great as well.

Improve your financial literacy

Do you want to improve on your financial literacy by learning about credit scores, retirement plans, loans, and investing? I highly recommend the self-serve investment platform DiversyFund, which empowers the everyday investor, with the ultimate goal of closing the wealth gap. DiversyFund was founded on the belief that everyone deserves access to the same wealth-building tools that have long been used by the 1% to create and sustain generational wealth. The self-serve investment platform offers 24/7 access to DiversyFund’s unique offerings, including high value private real estate investment funds and financial educational services. This is a great platform to truly improve your financial literacy and help with any entrepreneur’s retirement plan in an easy way.

It’s very important that you establish a plan to save for retirement early regardless of what your long-term business financial projections look like. When it comes to saving for retirement, diversification is key. As a young entrepreneur, it is important for me to get started right now on my retirement plan and I am grateful for the Diversyfund platform. I am starting now and investing as my business continues to grow, the goal is to contribute more to my retirement account.

No matter where you are on your entrepreneurial journey, now is the time to take control of your future so you won’t be left behind financially. Saving for retirement doesn’t have to be scary. If you are an entrepreneur and haven’t started your investment on your future yet, check out Diversyfund.com to get a jumpstart on your own retirement plan.