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FIRE Procrastination Penalty Calculator
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See exactly what delaying your investments costs you. Compare starting now vs. later and find your procrastination penalty in seconds.
See exactly what delaying your investments costs you. Compare starting now vs. later and find your procrastination penalty in seconds.
Cost of waiting at year 28
$153,145
Extra monthly needed to catch up
$1,180/mo
Instead of $1,000/month after the wait.
Procrastination Penalty
2 years later
Reality Check: Waiting 24 months before investing $1,000/month pushes your FIRE date back by 2 years, and costs you $153,145 in portfolio value by year 28. Catching up would take about $1,180/month instead of $1,000/month.
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Even a small amount invested consistently often beats waiting for the "perfect" large sum. Even $100/month in a low-cost index fund beats waiting. Open a SoFi account in minutes → (affiliate link)
Set up automatic transfers to your investment accounts. Remove future decision fatigue.
It's often better to start with a simple, diversified investment (like a low-cost index fund) than to wait until you've perfected your allocation strategy.
We project two monthly contribution streams with monthly compounding. Each month the balance grows by the monthly rate, then that month's contribution is added:
balance = balance x (1 + annual return / 12) + monthly contribution
The start-later stream waits 24 months before its first contribution. Returns are shown before inflation and before tax. The catch-up amount is the monthly contribution, over the years remaining after the wait, that would match starting now at the same target.
$500/month, wait 1 year at 7%
Adds 1 year to your FIRE date and $73,399 by year 36.
Catch-up contribution: $539/month
$500/month, wait 5 years at 7%
Adds 5 years to your FIRE date and $320,738 by year 36.
Catch-up contribution: $735/month
Procrastination penalty
$153,145 by year 28
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