Catch-Up by Age
Starting at 45 is the exact case this site's sequencer was tested on. The gap versus 27 is real; so is the catch-up path.
Twenty-two years remain. In five years your IRA room rises from $7,500 to $8,600 a year (2026 figures) — the first of the law's late-start levers.
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 | $522 | $400 |
| $500,000 | $1,043 | $800 |
| $1,000,000 | $2,086 | $1,601 |
Shown for a start at age 45 (264 monthly contributions to 67). 2026 contribution limits checked October 23, 2026.
The same $400/mo invested from age 45 reaches about $249,858 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.