Invest now--Why the urgency?

Truth be told, your most important retirement asset isn't your cash -- it's your time. The longer you have before you must spend your money, the less you need to save per month (and in total) to have what you'll need when you need it. It's just the way compounding works.

Assume that you're looking to retire by age 70 with $1 million socked away, and you think you can roughly match the market's historical 10% annualized return. These numbers show just how important time is to meeting your financial goals:

Years to Go	Monthly Investment	Total Invested
50	$57.72	$34,633.25
45	$95.40	$51,514.42
40	$158.13	$75,900.37
35	$263.39	$110,624.19
30	$442.38	$159,257.65
25	$753.67	$226,102.24
20	$1,316.88	$316,051.95
15	$2,412.72	$434,289.21
10	$4,881.74	$585,808.84
5	$12,913.71	$774,822.68

If you thought coming up with $58 a month to invest at age 20 was tough, just try waiting until age 60, and finding nearly 80 times as much spare cash in your budget. No matter how you slice it, the sooner you get started, the less painful it'll be.