Although it’s tough to plan nearly half a century ahead, the moves you make now can greatly affect your outlook when it comes time to retire. Small sacrifices today can potentially pay off exponentially as the decades roll by.

A post at the Canadian finance blog RateSupermarket lays out some reasons 20-somethings should worry about their far-off futures. Its points reference Canadian statistics but are just as applicable to Americans.

Some key points:

* Your debt load could sink you. If you saddle yourself with a high amount of student loans, it could take longer to get into a position in which you can pile money into retirement savings accounts. Borrow only what you need, and when you get out of school and get a job, do your best to eliminate the debt in order not to waste money on interest for years.

* Employers aren’t looking out for you as much. Companies are shedding pensions and 401(k) matches in order to cut costs, so a lot of the autopilot nature of retirement planning is going out the window. It’s better to start your own retirement accounts, invest wisely and contribute regularly.

* You could live longer than you think. With medical advances stretching out life expectancies, you could be sticking around above ground longer than you figured. That’s all the more reason to get started early to bolster your savings.

Why this 20-something is concerned about retirement [RateSupermarket]

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