Invest $500 a Month Starting at 40, Retire With $2 Million — Here's the Math

Retirement wealth is built through three simultaneous levers: personal contributions, employer match, and starting balance compounding over time. The gap between those who reach $2 million and those who don't comes down to understanding how these levers work together and protecting them from two hidden forces: the Silent Tax (expense ratios that compound against you, costing $190,000+ over 25 years) and the Behavior Tax (panic selling during market drops, costing $280,000+ over 25 years). The blueprint to $2 million requires: (1) picking low-cost index funds like VOO (0.03%) or FXAIX (0.015%) and automating contributions, (2) capturing the full employer match, and (3) opening the account less to avoid behavioral mistakes.