At 19 years old, NBA rookie Dylan Harper’s professional basketball career is just beginning. He’s also starting to save for his retirement.

Harper, the second pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, is investing at least some of his reported $56.1 million four-year rookie contract with the San Antonio Spurs as part of a paid campaign with financial services company Prudential, he tells CNBC Make It.

The decision to take the deal was a “no brainer,” he says. “The importance of investing in your life and all your hard work was the biggest thing for me.”

Before the Prudential partnership, Harper — who has inked name, image and likeness deals with companies including Nike, Red Bull and Fanatics — says he had never actually put any of his money away for retirement.

As a high schooler, he remembers spending “a little too much” of his first couple NIL paychecks on basketball video game NBA 2K. Now, he says his priorities have changed, and he wants other young adults to follow suit.

Saving for retirement gives you the reassurance that “at the end of the day, you have something to fall back on, [that will] grow and grow and grow, while you’re still doing what you want to do with your life,” Harper says.

When you invest money in the market through a retirement account, such as a 401(k) or Roth IRA, it grows not just from your contributions but from investment gains that build on themselves, says Nathan Sebesta, a certified financial planner and owner of Access Wealth Strategies, a financial services firm in Artesia, New Mexico. This is known as compounding interest.

“Start as early as you can, save as much as you can,” Sebesta says. “In time, the markets are your best friend.”

Say you start with a $1,000 initial investment on your 20th birthday and put away $200 a month for 45 years in a retirement account that accrues at a rate of 8% per year. By the time you’re 65, that investment will be worth more than $1 million, according to CNBC Make It calculations.

Wait until age 30 to start investing, and your total would be less than half that amount, despite contributing just $24,000 less.

Not all teenagers and young adults will have money to set aside for retirement. About one third of adults aged 18 to 24 say they are living paycheck to paycheck, and 25% say they aren’t making enough money to save for retirement, according to a 2024 study by financial services provider TIAA.

Missing a couple of your earlier years is OK, but don’t wait forever, Anne Lester, a retirement expert and author of “Your Best Financial Life: Save Smart Now for the Future You Want,” previously told CNBC Make It.

Many companies also offer a 401(k) match program, which means they’ll contribute additional money to your retirement account — typically matching a percentage of what you contribute, up to a certain limit. Experts, including Lester, recommend taking full advantage of these programs, since it’s essentially “free money” toward your retirement.

“One of the tragedies of missing those early contributions, especially if it’s into a 401(k) and there’s a company match, is that you’re missing out on free money and you’re not going to get that back,” Lester said.

If you can’t afford to contribute a lot right now, don’t let that stop you from getting started, Lester said. The key is to build the habit early, so you can benefit from long-term compounding.

“It’s about taking small steps when you set this huge goal,” Lester said. “It’s a goal to get to, but you don’t have to get there tomorrow.”

Want to level up your AI skills? Sign up for Smarter by CNBC Make It’s new online course, How To Use AI To Communicate Better At Work. Get specific prompts to optimize emails, memos and presentations for tone, context and audience. Sign up today with coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 20% off. Offer valid Oct. 21 through Oct. 28, 2025.

Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It’s newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life, and request to join our exclusive community on LinkedIn to connect with experts and peers.