Financial consultant Ali Amanbayev explained on his channel how a Kazakhstani can save $566,000 for retirement over 10 years, according to infohub.kz.

According to the expert, starting to invest early is key. If a person begins investing $400 a month in a global equity portfolio at age 25 and does so for just 10 years, the portfolio could grow to $566,000 by age 65.

Amanbayev stressed the importance of an early start for generating future income. The returns earned in the first years begin generating new income on their own through the effect of compound interest. As a result, such investments yield more than those started later.

As an example, the expert cited three scenarios for investors saving for retirement. Each invests $400 a month in a global equity portfolio, such as the S&P 500 index. With a nominal return of 10.5%, the real return adjusted for inflation would be 7.25% a year.

If a person invests $400 a month in the portfolio from age 25 all the way to 65, over 40 years the investor would contribute $192,000, and by age 65 the portfolio would grow to $1 million.

If the same amount is invested from age 25 to 35 — that is, for 10 years — the investor would contribute $48,000, but by age 65 the stock savings could grow to $565,900.

At the same time, if a person starts investing 10 years later — at 35 — and contributes monthly until 65, total contributions of $144,000 would grow to only $489,900.

Amanbayev notes that this means a person who invested three times less and stopped investing 30 years ago ultimately ended up ahead of someone who kept investing for another three decades.

"The difference between 'starting at 25' and 'starting at 35' is not 10 years. It is more than a twofold difference in the final capital at the same rate of return. You don't have to invest large sums right away. It is far more important to start as early as possible, because lost time later has to be made up for with significantly larger contributions," the consultant said.

The expert urged people to start investing as early as possible rather than waiting for their income to rise, since the compounding effect of those years can never be recovered.