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With hectic class schedules, many college students find it hard to think of leisure time in the near future, let alone plan for the leisure they expect in roughly four decades: retirement.

But Gabriel Leung, a fourth-year business economics and psychology student, is starting to look ahead to the days of relaxation that await him.

This summer he will begin work as a business and planning analyst at Boeing Co. With a full-time job, he said, he will be able to save more for the future.

“Right now I am spending pretty much everything I make. … But starting next year, I am going to max out my Roth IRA and save enough in a 401K to make full use of employer matching,” he said.

To follow this plan, Leung estimates he will need to save about $7,000, or 14 percent, of his earned income.

“That is a sacrifice of about $20 a day – not that much for someone with a full-time job,” he said.

By beginning to think about retirement savings now, Leung said he believes he will form good saving habits and orient himself toward long-term savings goals.

“If I decide not to put a priority on saving, this will have adverse effects in the long run,” he said.

Exploring savings options early gives students time to analyze the corresponding costs and benefits so that when they enter the full-time working world, they have an idea of how they will choose to put aside funds for the future.

Also, the earlier people start to save, the more opportunity their savings have to grow.

In addition to 401K plans, in which an employer matches some percentage of an employee’s contribution to his or her own retirement savings, there are two other types of individual retirement accounts that are widely used: Roth IRAs and traditional IRAs.

Both types are designed as long-term, tax-advantaged retirement accounts, but the way they are taxed differs markedly.

Contributions to a Roth IRA are made with after-tax money and are never tax- deductible. The Roth’s tax benefits show up later when withdrawals can be made federal income tax-free after age 59.5, if the account has been open for five years.

Traditional IRAs offer tax deductibility to investors who qualify as well as a tax deferral on earnings growth. Federal income taxes are paid when the money is withdrawn after age 59.5.

For young people looking to open an IRA, the Roth IRA is often the better choice because their current income taxes are negligible, if any, said economics Professor Lee Ohanian.

They would, instead, benefit from being able to withdraw funds tax-free in the future, he said.

Of course, not all students share Leung’s view that it is worth saving now to earn investment income later.

“I am definitely not saving (now) for retirement – that will come when I have a real job,” said Jennifer Marcella, a first-year psychology student who works for ASUCLA and is paid minimum wage.

Her co-worker Mark JaCobson, also a first-year psychology student, said that he is not yet independently saving for his retirement.

“But I think my mom is putting money away for me, into mutual funds, for my retirement,” he said.

Economics Professor Roger Farmer, who has researched inter-temporal choice – consumer decision-making throughout different time periods – said he observes a wide range of students, some who live and spend for the moment and others who more consistently save for the future.

The majority of students, unless coming from wealthy families, do not have much money to put into long-term savings, Farmer said.

“Most students are net borrowers, and this makes sense because they are investing in an education,” he said.

“I did not think about (retirement savings) until I was probably in my 30s, when I was married and had my first job” he said.

Farmer said perhaps students are thinking about retirement now due to the anticipated drain of Social Security funds to meet baby boomers’ needs.

“But Social Security funds will make up a relatively small amount of retirement income compared to private savings for the typical UCLA graduate,” he said.