"What happens if the non-grad only invests 1% because that's all they can afford?" The world is basically divided into two categories of people: those who can

"What happens if the non-grad only invests 1% because that's all they can afford?" The world is basically divided into two categories of people: those who can afford to save 10% of their income and those who are currently accumulating additional debt (I, as a college student, am in the latter group). The odds that your expenses exactly match the amount you need to spend are pretty small. If you find that you have exactly $0 left over at the end of the month- you don't have savings, but you aren't accumulating debt- you're probably just increasing your expenses until they match your income. You can live decently on $10K (after-tax) in this country. "If the college grad invests all of their extra money, how long does it take them to catch up?" Not long at all, but people don't. The American national savings rate is negative.