Any given 5-year period, 97% of the mutual funds on the market make money. Not only that, but the stock market has averaged a growth rate of 12% per year over the last 70+ years. Not only is time on your side when it comes to investing (if you’ve started early), but solid performance by the market is as well.
Let's look at an example. If you want to retire at age 65 and start investing just $200 a month at age 45, you'll end up with about $193,000. That won't cut it if you're going to spend 20 or 30 years in retirement and expect to live off the interest. If you begin investing that same amount at age 35, you'll have almost $649,000. Better, but probably not good enough. If you start at 25, though, you'll finish with over $2 MILLION! You'll be able to retire with dignity, give money like you've never given before, have serious fun, and leave a huge blessing to your spouse and children.
The sooner you complete the first 3 Baby Steps, the more time you have to grow your money and the bigger the payoff will be. When you get to Baby Step 4 and start investing 15% of your income, over time the interest you earn just goes nuts! If you haven’t reached Baby Step 4 yet, hold off on investing for the moment. The key is to work through Baby Steps 1-3 with focused intensity first!
Resources for Building Wealth We have developed these resources to help you strategically build wealth and give like never before:
