Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Invest Now, Don't Wait Until Tomorrow

By Samantha Asher

What's the difference if I invest now or if I wait a year? The difference can be quite substantial. If you still have a long time until you retire, or if you are retiring in the near future, investing now will benefit more than if you waited 1, 2, 3, or more years to start.

The longer the wait, the less money you have. Time is money and if you waste it, it's like you're wasting money. Just as you get paid for your time and efforts at work, with investing, you'll get paid a lot more with more time. The sooner you start, the more you'll make.

When it comes to investing, the sooner you start, the more money you'll have. If you had $10,000 to invest over a period of 10 years, if you could, you should invest it all in the first year. You would have to most money after 10 years than if you spread it out. It's just simple rules of compounding.

The younger you are, the more money you can make. Just like investing more will likely make you more, waiting longer will make you more as well. If you want to know the true power of investing right now, just look at this example.

If you start investing $1,000 a year from the time you are 25 until 65, you will have invested a total of $40,000. With an annual 9% return, guess how much money you'll end up with? You'll have about $365,000. That is a huge difference from $40,000 to $365,000. Just think about how much you could have if you invested even more each year.

Now let's say you decide you can't invest that much right now because you are just having too much fun spending money. Instead, you wait until you are 35 to start. You will invest the same amount of money overall, $20,000, but because you waited 10 years, you invest more per year equal to about $667 a year. You can't possibly earn that much more with an extra 10 years, right?

When you combine time and compounding, you make a powerful combination. It's incredible how much more money you can make when you start early. Compounding will earn you more money because the money you earn each year will continue to earn money. If you want to retire comfortably, or even early, you must harness the power of time and compounding.

This doesn't mean you have to invest this specific a year. You could invest more or less. The point is, you need to make plans and goals NOW. Don't wait until it's too late. You don't have to be cheap and live like a mortar in order to invest enough, just budget your money and start investing now. By the time you retire or need to buy a house, you will be so happy you did.

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