• For Gen Z, retirement is in their 40s or 50s, but now is the perfect time to start saving.
• Investing early and building healthy financial habits is the key to a successful retirement.

For Gen Zers just entering the workforce, retirement may seem too far away to be a concern.

Or, it can seem difficult and anxiety-inducing, especially as Gen Z juggles student loan debt, the high cost of living, and a tough labor market. And with a rising national debt, many younger workers are increasingly concerned that they won’t have access to the same resources that boomers have today, such as Social Security and Medicare.

Only 15% of Gen Z put some percentage of their paycheck into a savings account each month. And, only 20% contribute to a 401(k) or retirement account, according to Bank of America.

However, when it comes to saving for retirement, there’s no such thing as starting too early. In fact, the biggest advantage Gen Z has is time.

Business Insider asked four wealth advisors for their best tips and tricks on how Gen Z can maximize their retirement savings, starting now.

Andrew Crowell, Vice President of Wealth Management at DA Davidson

For Crowell and other experts, the biggest retirement tip is deceptively simple: Start early.

“With just a modest investment allocation, your money has the potential to double every 7 to 10 years,” Crowell said. That means for a 20-year-old Gen Zer just starting their career, their money has the potential to at least quadruple.

Take advantage of your workplace retirement plan, such as a 401(k)where you can contribute part of your salary to an account. Employers often match employee contributions up to a certain percentage, usually between 3% and 6%.

When investing for the long term, Crowell recommends putting your money in higher-yielding assets, such as stocks, to ensure that inflation it doesn’t erode your savings. The S&P 500 has returned 13% annualized over the past decade, well above inflation.

Basic budgeting strategies, such as keeping housing costs to 30 percent or less of your total salary, can also create a solid foundation for retirement savings, Crowell said. But don’t panic if rent is taking up a larger proportion of your take-home pay and preventing you from saving as much as you’d like.

“Their peak earning potential is a few years down the road, and they think the cost of living alone is very expensive,” Crowell said of Generation Zers.

No amount of savings is too small. “It’s less important how much you save from your paycheck than it is just to get started. You can always call in the future,” Crowell added.

Ayako Yoshioka, Senior Portfolio Manager at Wealth Enhancement Group

There are other ways to save for retirement outside of a traditional 401(k), Yoshioka pointed out. Self-employed individuals can use a Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) IRA to save for retirement and benefit from tax-deductible contributions.

A Roth IRAsthat allows you to contribute after-tax dollars toward retirement, is also a great choice, Yoshioka said. Once placed in a Roth IRA, contributions and earnings grow tax-free and can usually be withdrawn tax-free in retirement.

For those who like to pick stocks and individual funds, opening a brokerage account and building your own portfolio is another way to invest your savings. But for those trading stocks, Yoshioka points out that there are capital gains taxes levied on an investment’s profits.

When it comes to saving for retirement, it’s essential to keep the big picture in mind. There will undoubtedly be boom and bust cycles in the stock market, but stay invested, Yoshioka said. During the Great Financial Crisis, some people took their money out of the market to protect their assets and never put it back.

“When you don’t re-enter, you have your money, but inflation eats away at it, and you miss out on a big rise in equity markets,” Yoshioka said.

For Gen Zers, who haven’t been through many economic cycles, it’s important not to panic and sell short-term. Equity markets typically bounce back within a year, which is simply a drawdown of a retirement portfolio that could last 50 to 60 years.

Ashley Weeks, wealth strategist at TD Bank

Now more than ever, a successful retirement depends heavily on personal savings, Weeks said.

Historically, retirement income has come from what has been called the “three-legged stool” of Social Security, pensions, and personal savings. But today, Weeks points out, less than 15 percent of people in the private sector will have access to a pension, and the future of Social Security looks uncertain, meaning the burden of an adequate retirement falls increasingly on the individual.

According to Weeks, target date funds can be a useful tool for saving for retirement. Many company 401(k) plans offer them and automatically rebalance their portfolio composition to minimize risk as you approach retirement. A target date fund typically has a higher allocation to riskier assets such as stocks early on and increases its exposure to less volatile fixed income holdings as time goes on.

It’s important to approach saving for retirement with the right mindset. “Start saving early and treat retirement contributions as a monthly living expense,” Weeks said.

Alanna Morey, Private Wealth Advisor at Ameriprise

In Morey’s opinion, building basic budgeting habits is the key to success in retirement.

There’s no one-size-fits-all way to budget, but a popular strategy Morey recommends is the 50/30/20 rule — meaning 50% of your after-tax income goes toward essential costs, 30% toward discretionary spending, and 20% for savings or other financial goals, such as retirement or buying a home.

But before you save for retirement, Morey suggests first building a basic emergency savings fund by putting money in the bank or in a high-yield savings account. Once you have enough money saved to cover a few months of essential living expenses, then it’s time to start thinking about contributing to a 401(k) or other retirement plan.

Morey also recommends automating payments as much as possible. Credit card payments, rent payments, savings and 401(k) contributions can all be automated to reduce additional hassles and promote healthy financial habits.

And if possible, avoid credit card debt.

“If I’m paying 20 percent interest on my credit card, I’m paying 20 percent more for everything,” Morey said. This can quickly affect your ability to save. If you have credit card debt, make sure you know what interest rates you’re paying and have a plan to start paying it down.

“It’s hard to change those habits or create them later, and it’s harder to save later,” Morey said.