[masraum]

Originally Posted by JavaBrewer

Admittedly my wife and I fell into that trap 30 years ago, living above our means. We had young kids and indulged on family trips, nice lifestyle, and building memories. I finally go serious about investing and 401k with employer contribution about 15 years ago. Despite having a paid for home and no debits we will be living pretty damn frugal in our 70’s which actually does not sound that bad.

It's a shame that most young people don't get it earlier. It would be so much easier if you did it early.

I don't remember the exact numbers, but I've seen something like this dozens of times over the years.

Get a job and invest a small amount between the ages of 25-45, then stop investing.
Get a job and wait until you're 45 to start investing and invest the same amount as above but until you're 65. Same amount taken out of your paycheck over the same 20 year span, but at the end, the person that invested when they were young will have a handful of millions, and the person that waited will have a few hundred thousand. Gotta love compounding over time.