Important information - the value of investments and the income from them can go down as well as up, so you may get back less than you invest.

I recently sat down and worked out how many more times I will get paid before I retire.

A relatively long working life of 45 years would generate 540 monthly pay cheques in total but, at my age, I reckon I only have about 284 left. And that’s if I stay in continuous employment and work full-time until my State Pension is due, at age 68.  

It means I’ve already received more than half of the pay cheques that I’m ever likely to get. That’s quite a reality check, because the remaining ones still have a lot of work to do.

You can try this for yourself, you just need to know when you’ll get your State Pension. Take your State Pension Age (or another age if you think you’ll retire before that) and subtract your current age, then multiply by 12 to reflect being paid monthly. If you want a really accurate figure, you can also take account of the months that have passed since your last birthday.

For example; someone turning 55 today and retiring age 67 would have 144 monthly pay cheques to go; someone age 35 and retiring age 68 would have 396; and someone age 25 would have 516.

And these numbers are upper estimates. Were you to retire before your State Pension Age - as many people hope to do - then you will have even fewer pay cheques left.

Now think of all the things those pay cheques have to pay for. They need to feed you and provide a roof over your head. Perhaps they need to do that for dependents as well. They might need to pay education or medical costs, or to run a car or two. Hopefully they can stretch to a few of life’s luxuries as well - some holidays, birthday treats and meals out.

They need to do all these things for several decades of your working life and then, perhaps biggest of all, they need to pay for the many years post-retirement when you will not be earning anything at all.

It’s a lot, especially when you look at the startlingly few pay cheques you have to pay for it all.

I’m sometimes asked what my number one money lesson is - and it might just be this: make every single one of those pay cheques count so that every single one of them makes you a little bit better off.

That can mean different things depending on your circumstances, but the trick is to make sure you’re using a part of your pay every month to create a lasting benefit, and not just spending everything that’s coming in.

If you have debts that go beyond long-term loans like mortgages, bank loans for specific purposes and student loans, then your priority should be to pay back that debt. So, divert enough from each pay cheque into repayments so that the debt you owe is getting smaller every month, and do that as aggressively as you can afford. That absolutely counts as making you better off.

Then, once your debt has been cleared, put those monthly amounts from your pay cheque into savings instead. Each month that passes will see your savings pot build and you get richer.

Build an amount that you think will cover an emergency - three to six months’ worth of income is often recommended - and once you’ve achieved that then you might be ready to invest. You can take a quick test to see if you might be ready here. Once you’ve started investing, stick the course, increase your regular contributions where you can and give financial markets the chance to grow your money - which history suggest they will over the long term, even if investments can go down as well as up.

And whether you are clearing debt, saving into cash or investing your money, make sure you use a bit of each pay cheque to take maximum advantage of pensions. Make the most of the workplace pension available to you - sometimes your employer will match any contributions you make up to a limit, so pay in enough to achieve that. Thanks to pensions tax relief, the cost to your take-home pay may not be as big as you think.

Following this simple plan - of using every single pay cheque to make yourself better off - won’t make you rich overnight, but it might make you rich in the long run.

Important information - investors should note that the views expressed may no longer be current and may have already been acted upon. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and all tax rules may change in the future. Withdrawals from a pension product will not be possible until you reach age 55 (57 from 2028).This information is not a personal recommendation for any particular investment. If you are unsure about the suitability of an investment you should speak to one of Fidelity’s advisers or an authorised financial adviser of your choice.

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