Gabriela Silvani

Age: 25

Assistant director of a nonprofit organization, Cleveland Park

It took more than a year of hard-core saving -- and a helping hand from her father -- before Gabriela Silvani had enough to buy a condo the District last year.

She lived with her parents during that time and had to stop contributing to the retirement plan at the environmental nonprofit communications service where she works. Everything went toward the house.

"I kind of viewed that as my investment for the future," Silvani said.

She drew from her certificates of deposit, savings account and a money market account to help make her 25 percent share of the down payment. Her dad contributed the rest, "which, at some point in time, I would have to pay him back," she said.

Since buying the condo, her savings have rebounded a bit. But skimming money off her paycheck is difficult.

"It's hard to put extra money away," Silvani said. "I know, it's so important. It's most important to start saving between 20 and 30, or something like that. And even though I know that, it's hard to do it every month."

Just last month, Silvani began contributing 6 percent of her salary into her retirement plan, a 403(b) plan for nonprofits and educators. She pays her credit card off each month. And she tries to save $500 a month, though that's ambitious. She would like to have enough money to go on vacation and not count pennies, she said. Retirement seems far away.

"Do I think about retirement? Yes. Am I putting away as much as I should? Probably not," Silvani said. "I've done more the math of what I need to live per month, with a little bit of cushion."

-- Ylan Q. Mui