Financial Column From Sunday Times

START EARLY, AND TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE hehehehehe.

You do not need to be a whiz to save enough to retire:
Just start early and let your money compound.

Point 1: Pay yourself first.
- Sort out All of your bills and set a realistic amount where you can SAVE!
- Then write a cheque to Yourself to set aside that amount for deposit
or investment

For instance $68 a month invested for annual returns of 8 percent over 30 years will
generate a sum of $102,020.

But if your investment horizon is shorter say 10 years, you need to invest $554 a month to generate the same sum of $102,020.

Consider this Scenario A:
If you start saving at the age of 20 putting away $2000 a year until you reach 30, and you continue to stay invested without any further input of cash till you turn 63, you will have nearly the same amount of money socked away as a person who also saves $2000 every year but starts a decade later, between the ages of 30 and 62.

A handy and easy tool that illustrates the effects of compound is the Rule of 72. Take 72 divide by the expected percentage return.... The answer will be number of years to double your investment.

To conclude: We need a good savings discipline and a long investment time horizon.