BiggerPockets Money Podcast · Wednesday, July 8, 2026
Evan Lawler began his retirement investment journey at age 17, with his parents contributing his summer job earnings to a Roth IRA. He credits this early start and compounding growth for a significant head start in his early twenties. He emphasized the importance of balancing current enjoyment with future financial security.
“I started my journey super early. I was extremely lucky that my parents were super into financial literacy, taught me a lot growing up. So we actually opened a custodial IRA, I think at age 16, though my first contribution was at age 17.”
“My dad walked me through all the investment options I had. So I really had a great head start and like you said, the stock market returns have been incredible. So that money compounding over time really gave me a huge head start even going into my early 20s.”
“But what really motivated me back then was doing the math and saying, well, wait a minute. This $10, $20, $30, $40. Do I want $10 now, or do I want hundreds or thousands of dollars when I'm older? And that really contextualized it for me and kind of got me motivated to do it.”