I'm always looking for interesting examples that help drive home the following point -- the greatest ally your portfolio has is time. Recently, I came across a number of examples which show just how important it is to harness the power of time in an investment portfolio (these numbers, by the way, come from Investor's Business Daily newspaper): A 20 year old needs to invest $1,025 per year to earn $1 million by age 65 (assuming an average annual return of 11%). If that 20 year old waits until he or she is 35 before starting an investment program, he or she will have to invest $5,000 per year to reach the same $1 million by age 65. Another way to look at these numbers is the following: The 20 year old will invest just $46,125 in order to have a nest egg of $1 million by age 65. On the other hand, the 35 year old will need to invest $150,000 to make $1 million.

It's still much better to start an investment program at age 50 than, say, age 55. Indeed, at age 50, you'll need to invest $29,000 per year to be a millionaire by age 65. If you wait until age 55, you'll need to invest more than double the amount — $60,000 per year -- to be a millionaire by age 65.

One reason I'm a big booster of BUYandHOLD is that the site provides an excellent avenue for investors to get started on an investment program. Indeed, with as little as $20, you can get started investing directly in a number of high-quality investments.

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