Investing
The Only Finance Decision That Gets Worse Every Day You Wait
📅 Last Updated: April 2026
⏱ 5 min read
✦ Get Rich Slow
By Michael Azzolina · CPA · MBA
Quick Answer
Starting to invest at 25 instead of 35 roughly doubles your outcome, even with the same monthly contribution and return. Investing $300 a month at a 7% average annual return grows to about $798,000 by 65 if you start at 25, but only $363,000 if you start at 35, and just $156,000 if you start at 45. The gap comes entirely from time, not investment skill, so the best move is to start now with whatever amount you have.
Start investing before you feel ready. The market doesn't require your confidence. The amount doesn't need to be large. What costs you the most is waiting.
I've spent 15 years managing finance professionally. The single most common mistake I see people make in their personal finances is not starting soon enough. Not the wrong fund, not the wrong allocation, not the wrong brokerage. Just not starting. And the math is brutal.
The number that should make you uncomfortable
Assume you invest $300 per month at a 7% average annual return. That is a reasonable planning estimate, based on the historical inflation-adjusted return of the US stock market over long periods. Past returns do not guarantee future ones, but it is the figure most financial planners use for long-horizon projections.
$300/month at 7% annual return
Starting at 25, retiring at 65
$798,000
Starting at 35, retiring at 65
$363,000
Starting at 45, retiring at 65
$156,000
Same $300/month. Same 7% return. The only variable is when you start. Waiting 10 years cuts the outcome by more than half.
The gap comes entirely from time, not investment skill. Returns generate their own returns. With more years, that compounds further. Waiting 10 years doesn't reduce your outcome by 25%. It cuts it by more than half.
The amount matters less than you think right now
Most people delay because they think they don't have enough to invest. I understand that instinct: putting $50 into a brokerage account when rent is due feels pointless. The math says otherwise.
At 25, the most valuable thing you have is time. Time is the input compounding runs on. A smaller amount invested today is worth more than a larger amount invested 5 years from now, because every year it compounds is a year you can't get back.
The amount you invest matters. The time you invest matters more.
the internal monologue that costs you $435,000
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"I'll start investing once I have more money / pay off debt / get settled / feel ready"
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Opening a Roth IRA with $50 this weekend and letting compound interest do the heavy lifting for 40 years
The goal at 25 is to build the investing habit before you've talked yourself out of it. The habit is the asset.
What to actually do
If your employer offers a 401(k) with a match, start there. Contribute at least enough to capture the full match. That's a guaranteed 50% or 100% return on the matched portion, before any market gains. A 100% return on day 1 exists nowhere else.
Once you've captured the match, open a Roth IRA if you're eligible. Early in your career, your tax rate is likely lower than it will be later. A Roth lets you pay taxes on contributions now and owe nothing on withdrawals later. At current rates, that's usually the better deal. The 2026 contribution limit is $7,000 per year. Roth IRA eligibility phases out above certain income thresholds, and contribution limits are set annually by the IRS. Verify current limits and your eligibility at IRS.gov or with a tax advisor before contributing.
For what to invest in: a total market index fund. I'll cover exactly why in the next article. For now, the decision tree is simpler than the financial media wants you to think: get the employer match, open the Roth, buy the index fund, and leave it alone.
The one thing worth repeating
Every month you wait is a month of compounding you can't recover. That's arithmetic, not a scare tactic. The money you invest at 25 will outperform any raise or bonus you receive later, simply because it has more time to compound.
Once you actually start investing, you start running everything you buy through that lens, what it could have become instead. It's easy to look backward and regret money you spent years ago on things that don't even matter anymore. That's a normal reaction, and it's not useful. The only thing to do with that regret is let it go and start from today instead of using it as another reason to wait.
Open an account. Put something in it. Let time do the work.
Start before you're ready. The version of you at 65 will be grateful you did.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much difference does starting to invest 10 years earlier actually make?
A lot more than most people expect. Investing $300 a month at a 7% average annual return grows to about $798,000 by age 65 if you start at 25. Start the same $300 a month at 35 instead, and you end up with about $363,000. Waiting 10 years does not cut your outcome by 25%. It cuts it by more than half. The gap comes entirely from time, not investment skill, since returns generate their own returns and more years means more compounding.
What if I do not have much money to invest yet?
Start anyway. Most people delay because they think they do not have enough to invest, and putting $50 into a brokerage account when rent is due can feel pointless. But at 25, the most valuable thing you have is time, since that is the input compounding runs on. A smaller amount invested today is worth more than a larger amount invested 5 years from now, because every year it compounds is a year you cannot get back.
Where should I put my money first if I am just starting to invest?
If your employer offers a 401(k) with a match, start there. Contribute at least enough to capture the full match. That is a guaranteed 50% or 100% return on the matched portion before any market gains happen, and a 100% return on day 1 does not exist anywhere else.