Many people change jobs in their late 20's or early 30's... And the biggest mistake they make is to cash in their company's retirement fund when they leave! It IS very tempting... 10,000 bucks... just sitting there... and it's all yours...
But, what a relatively small amount of money can do for you, if you just leave it alone, is amazing!
Let's say you invest $5000 at age 25... at 10% compounded monthly... and walk away...
Check it out:
| age 25: | $5000 | age 46: | $61,370.01 | |
| age 26: | $5634.13 | age 47: | $69,153.26 | |
| age 27: | $6348.67 | age 48: | $77,923.63 | |
| age 28: | $7153.84 | age 49: | $87,806.30 | |
| age 29: | $8061.13 | age 50: | $98,942.33 | |
| age 30: | $9083.48 | age 51: | $111,490.70 | |
| age 31: | $10,235.50 | age 52: | $125,630.51 | |
| age 32: | $11,533.61 | age 53: | $141,563.60 | |
| age 33: | $12,966.36 | age 54: | $159,517.41 | |
| age 34: | $14,644.63 | age 55: | $179,748.21 | |
| age 35: | $16,501.93 | age 56: | $202,544.78 | |
| age 36: | $18,594.79 | age 57: | $228,232.53 | |
| age 37: | $20,963.08 | age 58: | $257,178.12 | |
| age 38: | $23,610.45 | age 59: | $289,794.75 | |
| age 39: | $26,604.85 | age 60: | $326,547.97 | |
| age 40: | $29,979.01 | age 61: | $367,962.43 | |
| age 41: | $33,781.10 | age 62: | $414,629.28 | |
| age 42: | $38,065.39 | age 63: | $467,214.65 | |
| age 43: | $42,893.03 | age 64: | $526,469.16 | |
| age 44: | $48,332.94 | age 65: | $593,238.63 | |
| age 45: | $54,462.77 |
DANG!
Here's another huge incentive for you to leave it alone: If you take it out early (before you're 59 1/2), you'll have to pay taxes on it and eat a 10% penalty!! You'll probably only end up with about $6000. Not smart! This ranks right up there with the biggest bozo financial moves people make.
For you skeptics out there who are saying, "Yeah, well, $593,238.63 isn't going to be worth that much then."
True, it won't be worth as much as $600K is worth today, but it's still a lot. If we assume a 3.3% inflation factor, that money is still worth $154,984.54 in today's dollars. Five grand turning into something over $150,000 is a pretty good deal.