The cost of waiting until you have "extra" money to start investing
A common plan is to start investing once there is extra money left over. Once the raise comes through. Once a bill gets paid off. Once things feel less tight.
For most people, that moment does not arrive on its own. Spending tends to expand to match whatever money is available, so "extra" stays just out of reach even as income grows. Waiting for it often means waiting indefinitely, not waiting for a specific date.
This does not mean you need extra money to start. It means the plan of waiting for extra money has a hidden cost, because every month spent waiting for the "right" amount is a month your money is not growing. Even a small, consistent contribution started now can matter more than a larger one started later, because it has more time to compound.
Use the tool above with a modest monthly contribution, something close to what you could realistically set aside today. Then try the delay chips and see what even a few years of "waiting until I have more" would cost.
Returns are never guaranteed and can go down as well as up. Nothing here is financial advice. This page exists to make one specific tradeoff visible: the cost of waiting for a better starting point, versus the cost of just starting.