<prompt> Human: Im 18, my job offers half match for my current situation so theyll match 1.5 for my 3, and so on up to 3 match for 6...however i only work 20 hours a week and i make 650 gross every 2 weeks, and my take home biweekly is around 500 after taxes healthcare 401k.should i continue with this little bit of investment, or would it be better if i waited until i made more ?currently in college, not a ton of costs right now but i want to save up for a car move outedit: Im thinking Ill keep investing, its only 35 or so a month. just gotta work on money habits because I do want to travel in the next year.but still undecided.  <response>: With my first job out of college I was making about 21K and contributed 5 to my 401k equivalent plus a small match. I left the job after a little more than a year with about 1600 in it. I rolled the 401k into a growth-fund IRA with Vanguard and basically forgot about it. I didnt combine it with any other retirement accounts or add any money so the only money in that account is what I contributed originally plus growth. 23 years later its worth about 35K, with another 20 years to go till retirement.The moral of the story: With long time horizons, compound interest, and the ability to tolerate some risk due to the long time horizons, investing even small amounts can pay off down the road. 