At age 65, Victor or Ash has a higher account value than Victor or Ash.

9. Start investing early Beginning to invest earlier in life can have a dramatic impact on your total investment returns in the long run. Consider the following example. As all values are denominated in U.S. dollars, you do not have to enter any dollar signs. The Wisdom of Investing Early Ash is an early investor. At age 30, she begins $3,000 per year in a tax-deferred account. The funds in her investment account compound at 9% annually. She continues investing until age 40 , when she stops contributing to her investment account altogether. After 10 years of cumulative investing, Ash has invested a total of in her investment account. From that point on, Ash's investments continue to compound until she reaches age 65 . By contrast, Victor is a late start investor. Victor waits until age 40 to begin his long-term investment plan. Starting at age 40 , Victor invests $3,000 per year into a similar tax-deferred account. The funds in his account compound at the same rate of 9% annually. Victor continues investing until he reaches age 65. After 25 years of cumulative investing, Victor has invested a total of in his investment account. Compare the amount of money that Ash has at age 65 with the amount of money that Victor has at age 65. Compare the amount of money that Ash has at age 65 with the amount of money that Victor has at age 65. At age 65 has a higher account value than . A total cumulative investment of $30,000 gets the early investor at age 65 . But the late start investor, who invested much more money ($75,000), has only at age 65 . You can see from this example that investing early can have a significant impact on your long-term investment returns