Catch-Up by Age
Forty is where the sermon pages say 'don't panic' and stop. Here is the computed answer instead.
Twenty-seven years remain. No catch-up room yet — it switches on at 50 — so the lever at 40 is the monthly amount and the order it travels in.
What a monthly amount must be to reach a goal by age 67, starting now — at two assumed yearly returns. You pick the assumption; markets have landed inside this band and outside it. Projections are arithmetic, not promises.
| Goal by 67 | Monthly at an assumed 5% | Monthly at an assumed 7% |
|---|---|---|
| $250,000 | $366 | $261 |
| $500,000 | $732 | $522 |
| $1,000,000 | $1,464 | $1,045 |
Shown for a start at age 40 (324 monthly contributions to 67). 2026 contribution limits checked October 23, 2026.
The same $400/mo invested from age 40 reaches about $382,843 by 67 at an assumed 7% return. Started at 25, it reaches about $1,217,483. The gap is real — it is compounding, and no product erases it. What closes it is the only lever you hold: a larger monthly amount, run through the right order, starting this month instead of next year.
The Filled Plan pack, the first-account walkthrough pack, the first-30-days plan, the full catch-up tables, the decoder card deck, and the order workbook — one pack, one-time payment.