Investing $2,000 annually from age 19 to 27 (8 years total) at an average 10% rate of return will result in $1,000,000 by age 65. In contrast, investing $2,000 annually from age 27 for 38 years (until 65) will result in $800,000 by age 65.
"If you invest $2,000 a year, just $166 a month from age 19 to 27, and you do not save anything again beyond that point, and you assume that your investments yield an average of 10% rate of return over the course of your lifetime, you'll end up with a million dollars by the time that you're 65. To be clear, 10% is a high rate of return, so it might be less than that, but the numbers are still quite staggering. On the other hand, if you wait until you're 27 to start saving $2,000 a year and then save for the next 38 years, you'll end up with $800,000 by the age of 65. In other words, you would make $200,000 more by the time you're 65 if you started investing at 19 and would have only had to save for 8 years total versus starting at 27 and saving for 38 years straight."
