Retirement nest egg: Millennials can exit the workforce by 50

Ramsey Solutions financial expert Chris Hogan said millennials can achieve their retirement goals by utilizing their 401(k) plans and conquering their student loan debt.

“Retirement now has nothing to do with an age, it has everything to do with a financial number. So I’m trying to get millennials to really wake up and look at this. Start to utilize their 401(k)s like never before, which will put them actually in a position to be able to retire in their 50s,” he told FOX Business’ Dagen McDowell on “Mornings with Maria.”

Many millennials may find it difficult to start thinking about retirement due to their concerns over their large student loan debts. The mean level of debt held by student loan borrowers is $32,731, and the average monthly payment is $393, according to the Federal Reserve.

Hogan believes that millennials need to tackle their student debt before addressing anything else.

“What I want them to do is attack that debt, I mean with a vengeance, get your money back. You give yourself a raise when you get out of debt. Once you get yourself out of debt, then you can start to build yourself up an emergency fund. I want people to keep three to six months of expenses tucked away so when life happens you have money you can grab,” he said.

However, millennials and other generations need to also be concerned about what comes after retirement. According to a Transamerica study, an estimated 56% of adults plan to keep working during retirement.

Hogan said retirees need to find an activity that fulfills them so they don’t succumb to mental illnesses like depression.

“A lot of depression can arise, if people don’t feel connected to what they are doing or they don’t feel that they have a purpose,” he said.