// Cost of waiting
What if you started 5 years later?
Waiting 5 years costs you:
$203,127
That's money you'd have at retirement — gone from delay, not from spending.
// Why Roth specifically
Tax-free growth
Every dollar of growth — dividends, interest, capital gains — is completely tax-free. Forever.
Tax-free withdrawals
At 59½ you pull money out 100% tax-free. No taxes on the gains, ever.
No required distributions
Unlike a Traditional IRA, there's no age you're forced to start withdrawing.
Contributions are flexible
You can withdraw your contributions (not gains) penalty-free anytime — it's not locked up forever.