Quote:
Originally Posted by simpletron
if the high school graduate spends the ~17K, then he loses almost 600K from the retirement and shrinks the gap considerably and if he misses out on the early years like most people the whole advantage disappears.
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This was my first thought as well. Since the author relies heavily on "averages" in his article, I think it's worthwhile to note that the "average" 18 year old will probably
not dump that entire amount into an index fund upon graduation. What does the "average" person spend on a car? What does the 'average" person spend to pay first/last/deposit on an apartment, then buy some "average" furniture for it? Going off "average" numbers, most people could blow through $8k or more pretty easily doing that. Relying on averages for the entire article, but assuming you have the most fiscally responsible teenager in existence kind of nullifies the whole thing.