It is never too late to start saving, but the later you need it, the more of a miracle you will require!  One of my staff members told me recently that she has just started an investment with Satrix Unit Trusts on a monthly basis.  I think that is a great investment, because the costs are low, but I did point out to her that she is investing at a time when the market is fairly high.  In other words, it has more than doubled over the last five years and when one has regard to the earnings of the average company, the PE rate is extremely high.  

In short, there is not much value in the market now, but on the other hand, if your plan is to invest on a monthly basis, it is really not going to affect you because when the market does go down, you are going to be able to buy more units and it would be better to start now than to have yet another excuse – i.e. the market is too high – and put off starting savings for a few more years.  People always talk about the miracle of compound interest, but compound interest does not help you very much if you only start saving at 45 which is why I started with my very first month’s salary, and have always disciplined myself that at least 10% of what I earn each month has to be put away for retirement.  If you are starting later, you actually need to put away a lot more than 10%.  People will always have excuses, and a lot of people are obviously planning on depending on their children paying for them one day, but that is a certain way to a very uncomfortable and impoverished retirement.