Invest now or wait: what does each month of hesitation cost?
Move the slider: the calculator compares your savings invested today with the same savings invested later, in four market scenarios.
What this calculator is for
Measure what putting off an investment costs: the same money, invested today or in a few months, across four possible markets.
How to read the result
The big number is the final gap between investing now and waiting. The bars compare the same wait in the four scenarios: green shows where waiting would have paid.
Assumptions and limits
The scenarios are hypothetical sequences, not forecasts. Money waiting earns nothing here; in an interest-bearing account the gap would be slightly smaller.
Have the result checked
An adviser goes through these figures with your actual situation: tax, pensions, existing investments.
Frequently asked questions
Are the scenarios forecasts?
No. They are hypothetical return sequences chosen to show how timing matters depending on the market: steady, crash then recovery, flat decade, boom then correction. Nobody knows which one will happen.
Is waiting ever the right call?
In the first-year crash scenario, waiting would have dodged the fall. But crashes are not announced: investing a little every month reduces that risk without leaving money idle. Keeping an emergency fund available first remains the priority.