First job, first paycheck – you’re likely to think about how to spend the money, rather than save it.

When you do put some money aside, it’s probably towards a holiday, a new car or a boat. At some point, you might think about saving up to buy your own home.

Sometime later, you might actually do so. Further down the list, if it appears there at all, is saving for a comfortable retirement.

That’s not usually a priority for most starting a career, but it’s something everyone should think about.

Even though it seems light years away from now, there’ll be a day when you stop working and need to live on your savings and pension. Your income and the size of your savings pot at that stage will make a big difference to your quality of life. The sooner you start to invest in your own retirement, the easier it gets and the more you can put aside over the long term.

Saving for retirement should ideally start from your first day in your first job. Treating it as a recurring expense means that it won’t affect the amount of disposable income you get used to, so you can still do the things you enjoy today.

There are also good reasons to start saving something immediately. Saving a little at a time but often and for longer can make a huge difference later in life.

The sooner you start, the more you will have saved up when you finally retire – a day that will come sooner than you think.

But what happens to the value of your money in the meantime, you might ask? Year on year, the real value of money will usually fall due to inflation.

There’ll be a day when you stop working and need to live on your savings and pension

Think about what a few euros can buy today and what you could get for the same amount 10 years ago. Over several decades, that shift will be magnified, which means you can buy less with the same amount of money.

Take a €10 meal in an inexpensive restaurant as an example. If we consider an average of 2.5 per cent inflation, in 10 years’ time, the same meal will cost €12.80. In 25 years, it will cost €18.54 and in 40 years’ time the price of that same meal will be €26.85 – almost three times the price.

A three-course meal for two in a mid-range restaurant that costs €50 today will cost €134.25 by the time you’re retired.

Eating in won’t be much cheaper. A half-kilo loaf of bread that costs €0.92 now will cost you €2.47 when you’re retired. Without any savings, you’ll probably have to give up driving too. You might afford to buy a new car now at €10,000 because you have a regular income and no major expenses. By the time you’re no longer drawing a regular salary, that same car will cost €26,850.

It might seem pointless to save rather than spend if your money’s going to be worth less in the long run, but there are ways of hedging against the depreciation in the value of your savings by putting your money into insurance savings or investment schemes rather than simply depositing it in a bank.

The returns made on such schemes are sometimes linked to the price movements in the markets, which over time have shown to typically exceed the annual rate of inflation. The schemes aim to make a return which is greater than the rate of inflation using different strategies depending on the type of investment you select.

When you spread savings over a longer term rather than rushing to catch up when you’re older, you can put aside a small amount at a time without reducing the overall size of your retirement pot.

You can also adjust the amount you put aside regularly as your income and expenses change. These schemes can be set up to suit your own needs and objectives and are designed to enable small, regular savings over the long term, which reduces the financial impact on your disposable income. So without too much effort, if you start saving early, you can look forward to a pot of cash to help keep you comfortable when you retire. Yes, it really is that simple.

• A recent study by a Bachelor of Commerce student at the University of Malta of 1,002 respondents aged 18 to 39 shows that 80 per cent of people with an income save some money most months. Almost 60 per cent put aside at least €100 each month.

It is possible to set up a workplace savings scheme where a percentage of your salary is paid directly into your retirement scheme. Employers need not contribute to the scheme unless they wish to do so.

This is believed to be a good incentive to retain staff by contributing to their long-term financial well-being.

To plan your savings for retirement, try MSV Life’s free online calculator which provides an accurate calculation of how much State pension you will receive and when you will receive it, based on the current rules.

It takes into consideration your salary, the number of years worked to date and your age. The tool also enables you to plan what income you would like to receive in retirement and then calculates how much you will need to save today to reach your target.

If you have existing savings set aside for retirement, then the calculator can take these into consideration and will show you the difference they will make. You can also play around with the amounts you save in order to see how this will affect your income in retirement.

The online calculator is available at www.msvlife.com/myfuture.

Sara Pavia is senior executive, Business Development, at MSV Life.