How much do you need to invest each month to retire with N$5 million at 60? Say your money grows at 11% a year. To reach N$5 million by age 60, a 20 year old needs to invest about N$581 a month. Over 40 years that is N$279,000 of their own money. Growth adds the other N$4.72 million. Wait until 30 and the monthly amount more than triples to N$1,783, which adds up to N$642,000 over 30 years. Start at 40 and it is N$5,776 a month, or N$1.39 million over 20 years. Start at 50 and it is N$23,042 a month, or N$2.77 million over 10 years. All four end up with the same N$5 million, but the 50-year old pays in almost ten times what the 20-year-old does. Ten years of waiting from 20 to 30 costs an extra N$1,202 every month. Growth only does the heavy lifting if it has decades to work. Early money has 40 years to grow, and late money has 10. If you start at 40 and invest N$3,000 a month at 11%, you reach about N$2.6 million by 60. If you start at 40 and invest N$3,000 a month at 11%, you reach about N$2.6 million by 60. Put the same N$3,000 a month in a savings account paying 4% and you reach about N$1.1 million These figures assume a steady 11% a year, returns are never steady. N$5 million in 40 years will also buy less than it does today. This is not financial advice.