Serve up some financial wisdom.

In my column of a few weeks ago, I provided historical stock market data that surprised many of you. Based on your letters, I’m pleased to hear that you want to continue our dialogue on the topic. Come to think of it, this makes a great Thanksgiving topic, much more exciting than, what, politics?

This is what’s important to get across: Some people find themselves filled with regret when they reach retirement, while others don’t because they were able to save enough, perhaps because someone mentored them. You can be that mentor to the youthful relatives and friends in your circle.

Let me give you something to talk about, the data that surprised the readers who wrote to me.

Assume you are 65. Let’s say you had the worst luck marketwise, investing for 30 years in the worst possible 30year stock market period since the 1920s. You know that in hindsight, but, of course, you did not know that at the time. However, you had a mentor who guided you to invest in yourself first, to start as soon as you began working and to continue no matter what the headlines were reporting.

At age 22, you dutifully invested $150 a month each payroll through your 401(k) at work, increasing that amount by 3 percent each year. A friend, who was 30 years old, followed your example. You both chose to invest in an S&P 500 index fund.

Both of you stopped contributing 30 years later, having invested a total of $85,786.

What did both of you have at the end of the 30 years? Your $85,786 in contributions grew to just under $300,000, for an average annual return of 8.27 percent. This is actual market data for the monthly investing done for the period, the return for the worst 30year period since the 1920s (19441974).

That’s interesting, but this is even more interesting:

After 30 years, you are now 52. Your friend is 60. Both of you stop contributing but hold on to the S&P 500 index funds longer, until the age of 70, when you need to start required minimum distributions. (We’ll talk about how to handle RMDs in a later column.)

That’s an additional 10 years for your friend and another 18 years for you.

Do you think the additional holding periods will impact the end result by much?

This is what surprised many of you when you wrote to me about my original column on the subject.

Even though both of you contributed the same amount, you had more than three times as much ($4,096,207) at age 70 than your older friend ($1,193,532).

Why the difference? Continued participation in the market and the leverage of time.

Your additional 18 years in the market that followed the worst 30year holding period experienced an average annual return of 15.63 percent (19741992). Your friend’s additional 10 years had an average annual return of 14.81 percent (19741984).

If you average your entire holding period of 48 years, your annual return is 11.73 percent. Your friend’s 40 years produced an average annual return of 10.46 percent.

There are many different ways to look at history — I’ll provide more scenarios, including comparing money market funds, in a future writing. The most important thing to remember is that we don’t choose a market — it chooses us. Our job is to optimize the market that we live through by having a plan.

As Thanksgiving approaches, you have the ability to influence young people to save and invest now — not to put that off until some later day.

This column tells the story of how even bad markets can be beneficial, and that it doesn’t take much to make a big impact. In subsequent columns, we’ll talk about how to help turn savings into lifetime retirement income. Time gives you leverage.

Tell them also to learn about their 401(k)s and how to optimize their opportunities, in particular by understanding the company match. If you missed my columns on 401(k) mistakes, let me know.

On another note, I look forward to meeting those of you who are attending Monday’s soldout presentation at the Greenwich Library, “Transitioning into Retirement.” For a list of my upcoming speeches and roundtables, visit JulieJason.com/events. Also, if you would like me to speak to your group or corporation, please contact my associate, Theresa Robbins at 2033221198 or email Theresa@juliejason.com.