Albert Einstein called compound interest the 8th wonder of the world, and he was a pretty smart guy. I certainly wish I'd understood this amazing thing when I was much younger - look at this illustration from the book Street Wise by Janet Bamford: if you want to have $1 million when you retire at 65, and you start saving and investing when you are 50, assuming the stock market's 70-year average return of 11% per annum you would have to save $2,199.30 per year. If you start saving when you are 15, you would have to save only $38.57 per year!
If you're still young enough (not necessarily 15, but early 20's is still good), start saving and investing now. If you're a late starter you're just going to have to save more - but do all you can to pass on the message to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
If you're still young enough (not necessarily 15, but early 20's is still good), start saving and investing now. If you're a late starter you're just going to have to save more - but do all you can to pass on the message to your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.