Data studies
The Cost of Waiting to Invest
How much does delaying cost? We invest $500 per month until a 30-years-from-now retirement, at the long-run S&P 500 total return of 10%, and compute the ending balance for each year you wait before starting. The math is the same engine our calculators use.
Computed at 10% long-run S&P 500 return
Ending balance at retirement — $500/month, 10% return, 30-year horizon
| You wait | Years invested | Ending balance | Cost of waiting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start now | 30 years | $1,130,244 | — |
| 1 year | 29 years | $1,017,424 | $112,820 less |
| 2 years | 28 years | $915,297 | $214,947 less |
| 5 years | 25 years | $663,417 | $466,827 less |
| 10 years | 20 years | $379,684 | $750,560 less |
- Returns are a long-run average applied smoothly; real markets vary year to year, so treat these as illustrative magnitudes, not a forecast.
- Figures are nominal (not inflation-adjusted) and ignore taxes and fees.
Sources
License & reuse
This table is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. You're free to share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit Money Scale and link to this page. Coverage: United States. Last reviewed .
Frequently asked questions
Why does waiting a few years cost so much?
Because the earliest dollars compound the longest. Money invested today has decades to grow, so the contributions you skip early are the ones that would have multiplied the most by retirement.
What return assumption is used?
A 10% long-run S&P 500 total return (dividends reinvested), the figure cited above. Lower assumptions shrink the gap but the pattern holds.