Here's the compound interest reality check I run in my head whenever I'm tempted to delay a savings decision.

Money invested today at 7% average return doubles in approximately 10 years. That means:

• $10,000 invested today = $20,000 in 10 years, $40,000 in 20, $80,000 in 30.
• $10,000 invested 5 years later = roughly half those amounts.

Every year of delay costs you a doubling. More precisely, it costs you the value of one fewer doubling over your entire remaining investment horizon.

Applied concretely: the decision to start a Roth IRA at 22 instead of 27 isn't a $35,000 difference (5 years of contributions). It's a $70,000-90,000 difference by retirement because of the doubling you lose on those early contributions.

This isn't meant to induce guilt for past delays. It's the best argument I know for acting now rather than 'next year when things settle down.'