Investment Timing Chart from The NY Times

Common financial planning/ retirement planning advice encourages people to start investing as early as possible. But a new chart published by The New York Times shows that longevity alone doesn't guarantee positive returns. The Stock Market Matrix is a color-coded chart that shows the rate of return on investments based on the year money was invested and year it was withdrawn. Look across the chart and you'll see that no two timespans give the same returns even if those timespans are of the same length.

Applications for Education
The Stock Market Matrix could be used as part of a US History lesson in which students research the events of different timespans and how those events affected the market.

On a related note, if you're looking for some good videos about the basic concepts of investing, borrowing, and saving money, Common Craft has three good videos you should check out. Here are direct links to each of the three videos: Investing in Plain English, Borrowing in Plain English, Saving in Plain English.