As a millennial, you may not think about retirement every day. It may seem too distant in the future to occupy your mind, but the fact is, you really ought to plan for your golden years now because last-minute planning for retirement can be painful or even impossible.

Only by taking action well before you reach retirement age can you establish a well funded “piggy bank” from which to draw in your golden years. And if each piggy bank is a financial strategy for retirement, don’t rely on just one “golden” piggy bank – set up multiple sources of income, as many as possible.

Here are five tips for millennials who want to start planning for retirement now, so that they’ll be financially stable when those years finally come:

Top Tips For Millennial Preparing For Retirement

1. Establish Disciplined Saving Habits

Develop the habit and discipline of setting aside a specific percentage of each paycheck for future needs. Besides acting as an emergency fund, you want a continually growing savings account and/or investment fund that will be of significant size after 20 or 30 years.

This will entail learning to balance expenses and debt against your savings goals. A good strategy may employ in this regard is the 50/30/20 rule. This financial rule of thumb says you should use only half your income on basic necessities, 30% on “wants” like vacation or entertainment, and 20% on building savings and paying down debts.

Remember, this is only a general rule; so depending on your income and situation, you may need to adjust the numbers. But there’s nothing wrong with starting off with the 50/30/20 approach, see if it works well for you, and then tweaking it a bit only if necessary.

2. Invest in Quality Health Insurance

If you work in the US and buy insurance there, definitely explore Medicare part A B C D plans: full Medicare Advantage allows you to add prescription drug coverage, including vision and dental insurance, and put a cap on how much you can pay out of pocket.

Health insurance costs are on the rise in the US. Premiums for employer-based plans rose 3% between 2015 and 2017, and the pre-subsidy cost of insurance on the exchanges rose 25% during the same period.

Keeping yourself healthy and minimizing healthcare costs is key to protecting the money you saved for retirement. Your health is your most important asset, so don’t overlook this aspect of preparing for your retirement years. Even if you work in the health industry, you will have a lot of doubts once you have to choose a plan for the retirement.

3. Invest in Whole Life Insurance

If at all possible, opt for whole over term life insurance. Whole life builds a cash value over time that you can tap into and repay, when necessary, without canceling the policy. And the death benefit is paid out regardless of when precisely you pass away.

Whole life gives you an extra “piggy bank” to draw on in tough times without depleting your savings account. Plus, you don’t have to save money to cover your “final expenses” or for an inheritance for your kids, because the insurance policy takes care of all that – freeing up more money to save.

4. Buy Instead of Rent as Soon as Feasible

I haven’t mentioned investing in stock and bonds and other securities, but of course, that’s another piggy bank you can use for retirement. But here I want to mention what many uses in lieu of investment securities – real estate. Renting may make more sense for you right now, and that’s fine. But if you can save up to meet the down payment requirement (normally 20%) and keep your credit good so you get approved for the mortgage, buying instead of renting can help you during retirement.

First, you could sell a large house you don’t need anymore and move to a smaller, less expensive retirement home (and save the price-difference). Second, you can use the equity in your home for short-term loans and even get a reverse mortgage to live off if all else fails.