If you've just begun saving and are feeling discouraged, DON'T! When it comes to saving money, it's critical not to feel awful about what you've done or haven't done so far. What matters most is that you've taken the choice to begin today, putting yourself on the path to expanding your savings and putting your money to work for you.

Compound interest highlights the benefit of starting to save sooner rather than later. However, if you need additional reasons to start saving now, consider the following:

1. Prevent lifestyle creep.

Most individuals plan their lives on their income. Whether you've been working for 20 years or are just starting out, your home budget will most likely be dependent on your income. If you don't watch your spending and save money, your living expenditures will certainly increase to take all of your income, if not more (hello, credit card debt!).

2. You have no control over your income.

Most individuals have little influence over how much money they earn. Sure, you can attempt to get a second job or some part-time employment, but it's typically far simpler to keep your costs and finances under control. This implies that if you opt to delay saving until your salary reaches a specific level, you have no idea whether you will be waiting 6 months or 6 years.

It's best to plan your family budget, regardless of income, so that you can save some money every month, rather than waiting until you believe you'll be flush with cash.

3. You will need funds.

You may not believe it now, but you will need access to funds at some time in the future. Even if you aren't thinking about retirement yet (which you should be), you might still have a medical emergency. Your automobile might also break down. You may have to relocate. Or any combination of the above. Both in the same month.

The main thing is to start saving money now so that you may access it later. It doesn't really matter either direction you go.

4. There will always be an excuse not to save money.

When you're busy making plans, life occurs. You may have the best of intentions to begin saving as soon as you pay off your automobile. Or as soon as your new home is outfitted. Or as soon as you earn that long-awaited promotion.

You'll always find another excuse to put off saving as long as you believe you have one. There is no ideal moment to save money, which is why it is critical to start today.

5. You can't get your time back.

You could be reading this and thinking, "Gee, Dock, this is all fine, but where were you 15 years ago?"

And, yes, if you'd begun saving even $5 a day 15 years ago, you'd already have a lovely little $44k nest egg (assuming a 6% average annual return).

But we have no control over it. All we can do is make the best decision we can now and move on. So that's what we should concentrate on: doing all we can to start saving right now.

6. No one has ever gone bankrupt trading on US stocks.

Every year, thousands of people make financial choices. Whether or not to switch autos. Whether to purchase or lease. New or used. What kind of insurance.

Investing should not be another cause of concern. People have enough obstacles to face intellectually or emotionally in order to really commit to saving; selecting an investment should not be one of them.

Fortunately, index funds can remove a lot of the uncertainty from investing. These funds are both diverse and cost-effective. All that's left for you to do is choose one or a few funds and invest as much as you can every day, week, or month.