A common trait of first time investors is to delay investment decisions on an almost perpetual basis. This is usually as a result of the overwhelming selection of funds, structures and information bombarding them on a daily basis, not withstanding the additional press coverage of market ups and downs. In addition there is usually the thought that in the future income will rise and this will provide the required disposable income for investment. This is a costly trap as we illustrate below.

Let us illustrate the cost of delaying investment decisions in the case of a 30 year old planning towards retirement. 
Given the aim of retirement at age 55 and the opportunity to save $500 p.m. today, the sum of money accumulated at age 55 assuming an annual return on investment of 12% p.a. would be approximately $950,000 providing an annual income of $85k. 
Delaying this saving decision for only 5 years until the age of 55 would mean that the same level of saving would only produce a fund of approximately $500,000 providing an annual income of $45k. 
This would mean that almost double the saving would be required to achieve the same level of benefit. Similarly delaying for 10 years would require almost four times the level of saving. 

The graph illustrates the various expected accumulated fund sizes and income levels at five year intervals. The above graph can be viewed as the loss of benefit from delaying investment decisions, whether these be saving toward retirement, a house, your children’s university fees or any other future capital requirement.