For college students and recent graduates, retirement may seem far away.

However, it gets here quicker than one may think, and for many, it’s simply out of reach.

According to the 2021 Global Retirement Index, 40% of people said that comfortable retirement would “take a miracle.”

Finance author and motivational speaker Danny Kofke says the solution is simple: Start investing now.

For most people, the first step is to invest in a workplace plan.

Many employers offer retirement accounts. For-profit companies offer 401(k) plans while nonprofits offer 403(b)s.

“The beauty with that is, a lot of times, it can be a direct payroll deduction, so you don’t really have to think about it,” said Kofke. “After that, you get used to living on less, so that’s what I recommend many to do.”

If your workplace doesn’t offer a retirement plan, the 46-year-old’s advice is to talk to a financial advisor about setting up an individual retirement account.

However, if you want to retire as a millionaire, a retirement account may not be enough. Once you have 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses in savings, Kofke suggests setting up an investment portfolio with a financial advisor.

Financial advisors can help you decide what to invest in, but they do require a fee. For those comfortable with making decisions on their own, there are other options such as online brokers and micro-investing apps.

Regarding what beginners should invest in, the motivational speaker recommends mutual funds.

“When you’re investing in individual stocks, if that one tanks, you’re losing it all,” he said. “However, when you diversify and invest in a mutual fund, your money is spread out. If one of the stocks in that mutual fund goes down and the other goes up, it balances out.”

You may be wondering how much money you should set aside to invest. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t take much.

“Especially at a workplace, you can just do a percentage of your pay, so you can start as low as one percent of your salary,” said Kofke. “It could be $25 or $30 a month, so you can start pretty small.”

The bottom line is to start investing as early as possible, because the earlier you start, the more time your money has to grow.

The financial writer described the stock market as having an average growth rate of 10% a year.

“If you started at 18 years old, and you invested $100 a month earning 10% interest, by the time you turned 65, you would have over 1 million dollars.” – Danny Kofke

Regardless, Kofke stressed that to retire as a millionaire, young adults will have to get used to living on less.

“The important thing is, once you start working and you get that job, start saving right away,” he said. “Do it before you get used to what your paycheck is. That way, you’ll learn to live on less, and not just when it comes to investing. When you can learn to live on less, then a lot of times, you’re going to end up wealthy.”

For more financial advice from Danny Kofke, check out his books here.