The Comparison
"What if I had started at…" – must be earlier than your age today.
Contributions
Real life: contributions scale with typical Canadian earnings by age – your younger self invests less, your older self more. The honest comparison.
Portfolio
Expected compound returns before inflation. The chart's bands come from the volatility of each mix.
Options
Today's dollars: what the money actually buys, after 2% inflation. The honest default.
Your Catch-Up Cost of Waiting
$0/month
Started at 25 · at 65
$0
Starting today · at 65
$0
Where you could end up – the realistic range
Each shaded band shows where 8 out of 10 of 1,500 simulated market futures landed – the bottom edge is what weak markets deliver, the top edge is strong markets, and the solid line is the middle outcome. (In statistical terms: the band spans the 10th to 90th percentile, and the line is the median.) Notice the earlier start isn't just bigger – its band is tighter relative to what it delivers. Starting early buys certainty, not just dollars.
Tip: click any item in the chart legend to hide or show it – for example, hide both "likely range" bands to compare just the typical paths.
How This Works
Everything runs in today's purchasing power. Returns are applied net of 2% assumed inflation, and contributions hold their real value. The "Future dollars" view re-inflates results so you can see the bigger (but less meaningful) nominal numbers.
The catch-up number uses expected compound returns. It answers: to arrive where the earlier start arrives, what monthly amount does starting today require? The bands answer a different question: how much the journey can vary around that expectation.
Real-life mode uses a typical Canadian age-earnings curve. Your entered amount is anchored to your age today; every other age is scaled by what the same saver could afford then. Earnings rise steeply through your 20s and 30s, peak in your late 40s, and ease off near retirement – so the early-start scenario begins with smaller contributions and grows into them, like a real career. Textbook mode skips this and assumes the full amount at every age, which is why its gap looks bigger. The exact schedule for your inputs is shown under the mode toggle.
This is an illustration of the assumptions entered – not a projection, a recommendation, or a guarantee. Real returns arrive unevenly, and no portfolio mix assures any outcome.
FAQ
Does waiting one year to invest really cost that much?
More than most people expect – and the cost compounds. Every year of delay means the same destination must be reached with fewer years of growth, so the required monthly contribution rises, and each further year of waiting adds more than the last. This calculator prices your specific delay in dollars per month.
Is it better to start investing small now or wait until I can afford more?
Starting smaller earlier usually wins, because early dollars have the most years to compound. That's exactly what the "Real life" mode shows: contributions that grow with a typical Canadian career still benefit enormously from the early start, even though the early amounts are modest.
What does "time in the market beats timing the market" mean?
Long-term outcomes depend far more on how many years you're invested than on picking a clever moment to begin. Waiting for a better entry point usually costs more in lost compounding than it saves – which is precisely the cost this tool measures.
Is this a prediction of my returns?
No. The bands show a realistic range from repeated simulations of your assumptions, and the catch-up figure uses expected compound returns. Real markets arrive unevenly, and no outcome is guaranteed – the point is the comparison between starting dates, not any single number.
Is it too late to start investing at 40 or 50?
No – but the required effort changes. A later start means fewer compounding years, so reaching the same destination takes larger contributions. Set your own age in this calculator and it prices your exact catch-up; what the math never rewards is waiting one more year to begin.