The benefits of compound interest are extremely powerful. This growth depends on having a guaranteed return with no down years. With loss years like one gets with returns linked to the stock market, the results are completely different. Ask anyone who had 401K accounts that went through 2008 or 2001. And the results depend dramatically on how soon you start. The above chart shows the results of saving $10,000 per year for 25 years at 5% interest. The same $250,000 total inpu