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you roll it on the field it gets exponentially larger and suddenly you would have a mountain of snow. When the snowball is small, one full rotation may only pick up one ounce of snow, but as it gets larger, more and more snow sticks to it until a full rotation may grab a few pounds of snow. Now you know why they say the rich get richer.

Consider this example: $1,000 invested in an account paying 10% annual interest will become $1,100 in 1 year, $2,595 in 10 years, $6,730 in 20 years, $17,500 in 30 years, $45,260 in 40 years, and $117,390 in 50 years. As you can see, the money doesn’t grow in a straight line, but rather exponentially (or some may say geometrically). Now here’s the interesting part. If you had invested $500 instead of $1,000, you would be looking at $58,695 at the end of 50 years. Investing $500 less would have cost you almost $60,000 in the end.

Most of us do not have the luxury of waiting 50 years, which is why many of us should contribute a portion of our income to a retirement plan regularly. But the sooner we start the better. A 25 year old contributing $2,500 annually and getting an average return of 10% will have $1.1 million by the age 65. A 45 year old doing the same would have only $143,000 by the age 65. In order to have $1.1 million at the age 65, our 45 year-old must contribute $19,320 annually, a far cry from $2,500. So the message is start early and contribute regularly. The idea is not to discourage you if have waited long, but to urge you to get started to invest for your future today regardless of your age.

Before closing out this book, I must once again emphasize the following: I am not a broker, dealer, accountant, financial adviser, financial salesman, or anything connected with the financial field, and I have no affiliation with any financial institution other than being a plain client. I hold no financial degrees and have no official experience in any financial fields. The material expressed in this book is based on …