I'm 32 now and am investing aggressively. In running the numbers, I've noticed that the amount of "new" money invested in, say, the last 5 years before retirement, really doesn't matter. That is, getting a lot of money in early and giving it time to grow is the real key (duh). But knowing that, I couldn't help wondering if I should bother investing anything at all during those last 5 years before retirement.
If your portfolio is growing by $200k/year on its own, just through compounding, does it really matter if I throw another $30k into it, if that new money isn't going to be in there long enough to really take advantage of compound interest? What did the rest of you do? Do you direct that money elsewhere? Splurge with it? Loosen the purse strings and enhance your lifestyle? Or did you continue socking it away out of pure habit, or a desire to maximize retirement savings as much as possible?
If your portfolio is growing by $200k/year on its own, just through compounding, does it really matter if I throw another $30k into it, if that new money isn't going to be in there long enough to really take advantage of compound interest? What did the rest of you do? Do you direct that money elsewhere? Splurge with it? Loosen the purse strings and enhance your lifestyle? Or did you continue socking it away out of pure habit, or a desire to maximize retirement savings as much as possible?