These calculations are a great example of how time impacts return on savings. By starting earlier Blank 1 was able to earn slightly over $20,000 more than Blank 2 . This is amazing if you consider that, over time, Blank 3 actually invested $40,000 more than Blank 4. This means that Blank 5 not only earned $20,000 more than Blank 6 , but she also had an additional $40,000 that she could use for something else. Taken together, Blank 7 came out $60,000 ahead of Blank 8 simply because she started 10 years earlier.