As a college student, you’re probably asking yourself, “Why should I save money?  I’m only 18″  I’ll put it in plain terms for you right now.  The earlier you save, the quicker you can retire and get out of the workforce.  I know, we all want to party and spend our paychecks on PS3s and beer but it’s also time to buckle down and start acting like an adult.  Here’s why you should start saving money today.

You need backup

When you get out of college or let’s say you’re renting an apartment right now.  What happens if you lose your source of income and you can’t pay your bills anymore?  What are you going to do?  This is why you need to have an emergency fund.  Look at how much you spend each month.  Let’s say you spend $1,000.  Your emergency fund should have at least $6,000.  This is also a great habit to get into when you get out of college and start your life in an apartment or home.

Save up for a new house

Do you want to buy a new house?  Well, with today’s economic conditions, you’re not going to be able to walk into a mortgage company and tell them you have no money.  They are just going to laugh at you.  Today, you’re going to need at least 20% down.  If you don’t have it, you’re either stuck in an apartment or at home with Mom and Dad.  The math is simple.  If you want a $100,000 home, you better have $20,000 to put down.

Retire early!

You don’t want to work until you’re 65, no one does but if you don’t start saving now, you’re going to hit 60 and see that you have no savings.  What are you going to do?  Wait and work while your body is crumbling until social security kicks in?  Let’s face it, social security is nothing!  You can’t make a decent living just living off the government.  You better start saving at least 10% of your funds to have a healthy retirement outlook.

Save up for a car

Just like the house, you’re going to want a nice car to drive around in.  It’s always nice to pay in full but it’s nice to also have a big down payment.  If you’re in the market for a $15,000 car, your monthly payments are going to be reasonably high but if you put down $5,000, your payments will be a lot lower.

Saving for other things

You don’t want to get into the habit of putting everything on a credit card.  Let’s say you want that brand new 42″ LCD TV.  Are you going to throw a couple thousand on a credit card?  I highly doubt it.  You’ll want to save your money so you won’t have to pay those pesky interest rates.

There are so many reasons on why you should save your money.  Students really have to wake up and look at the benefits of saving.  If you can accomplish this, you can really have a very healthy and successful financial life.