Fred signed up for his plan immediately. He contributed $100 - $1,200 a year - for 10 years and then stopped adding money to his retirement plan. He invested a total of $12,000.

Jack thought retirement was too far away to worry about so he waited 10 years before he got started. Then he too contributed $100 a month and kept it for 30 years. He invested a total of $36,000.


Though he invested less money, time bought Fred $181,830 more retirement income than Jack's strategy (imagine Fred's total if he had continued investing).

*This chart illustrates the growth of annual $1,200 investments ($100 a month) at a 10% rate of return, compounded monthly. Both employees retire at age 65. This is just an example and is not indicative of the results of a particular investment.