How To Become a Millionaire Without Trying (Very Hard)

Hal Masover | Sep 16 2026 14:00

I once heard a blues singer at a live performance in Fairfield, Iowa.  Maybe someone who was there will email me with the performer’s name.  His songs were long, but really they were just short stories about his life set to music.

There’s one scene, and I’m sure it happened more or less like he sang in his song.  He’s driving his old window van playing his tunes on his 8 track and pulls into a gas station.  While he’s pumping gas a young guy pulls in blasting his music so loud our singer couldn’t even hear the music on his own car stereo.

So he starts walking over to the young man’s car to ask him to turn down the music.  The young guy gets out of his car, turns and says, “What you want old man?”  And that stopped our singer and he responded, “Old man?  Let me tell you something son.  You go to bed every night, and wake up every morning and if you’re really, really lucky, someday you might get to be an old man!”

It’s very true.  When I think of all the close calls I’ve had, just a few inches one way or another, I might not still be here. 

The point is, time is our most precious asset.  Every minute gone is a minute you can’t get back.  And that sounds kind of depressing, but you can use it to your advantage in the world of investing. 

Being an old man myself, I was making a visit to an oral surgeon.  The surgeon asked me what I do, and I told him I’m a portfolio manager.  So, he turns to one of his young assistants and starts talking to them about investing and he asks me, “What’s the most important advice you can give to a young person?”  One of his assistants was 19 years old and I didn’t hesitate. “Start now.”

Here’s why.

IRAs were first introduced in 1975.  In the early 1980s Primerica published a simple math problem.  Suppose someone opened an IRA as soon as it’s legally allowed, at age 18, and contributes the maximum allowed (currently $7,500) every year until they turn 27, and then did not make anymore contributions.  That’s person A. 

Now suppose person B doesn’t open an IRA until they are 27 and contributed the maximum amount every year until age 67. 

The original study went to age 65.  I’ve moved it back to age 67 which is the current official Full Retirement Age for social security purposes. 

The results are startling.  But first let’s make some assumptions.

Assumption number 1, we will assume the annual rate of return will be a steady 7% per year.  The real world is substantially messier, but if we get lost in trying to figure out the impact of varying rates of return, we’ll miss the most important point, the value of time, and for that reason I’m keeping it at a steady rate of return.

Assumption number 2, the maximum IRA contribution will remain at $7,500 per year.  Over a 50 year period it’s unlikely to stay the same, but we can’t forecast how or even if that might change so we’ll stick with $7,500 per year.

Now to the big conclusion, and it’s dramatic.

The 18-year-old who puts $7,500 per year into her IRA until she’s 27, that’s 10 years total, $75,000 invested and due to how the money gets compounded, she ends up at age 67 with $1,551,704. 

The 19-year-old dental assistant asked, “What?  How is that possible?” 

Here’s how:

Year one the 18-year-old deposits $7,500.  At the end of that year it’s earned 7% so it’s now $8,025.  At that point she adds another $7,500, and at the end of year two, the $15,000 is worth $16,612.  She’s already made an extra $1,612.  Just like you make a snow man by starting with a snowball and rolling it around in the snow to make it really big, when money is invested, it has the chance to make more money for you.  Money making money. 

So even though she stops making contributions when she turns 27, her now sizeable account keeps growing every year, at least in our hypothetical case. 

But what about person B?  He doesn’t know about, or isn’t able to make investments until a little later.  He starts at age 27 and faithfully invests an additional $7,500 every year for the next 40 years.  And he does come out better, but not by much.  At age 67 he’ll have $1,602,072. 

Believe it.  Time is your most important asset. 

My late mother-in-law sometime in her 80s or 90s said, “I don’t have any problem with wasting time, I just don’t have any to waste.”

You don’t either. 

 

 

Hal Masover is a Chartered Retirement Planning Counselor and a registered representative. His firm, Investment Insights, LLC is at 508 N 2^nd Street, Suite 203, Fairfield, IA 52556. Securities offered through, Cambridge Investment Research, Inc, a Broker/Dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment Advisor Representative, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors, Inc., a Registered Investment Advisor. Investment Insights, Inc & Cambridge are not affiliated. Comments and questions can be sent to hal@getyourinsight.com. These are the opinions of Hal Masover and not necessarily those of Cambridge, are for informational purposes only, and should not be construed or acted upon as individualized investment advice. Investing involves risk. Depending on the types of investments, there may be varying degrees of risk. Investors should be prepared to bear loss, including total loss of principal. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.