I’ve been investing consistently for years and have built a "not-too-shabby" Net Worth. However, due to a shift in circumstances, I’m looking at a 1-year "contribution holiday" where I won’t be able to add anything new to the pile.
Assume I’m roughly 5 years out from retirement and usually contribute $15k/year. While the portfolio will obviously keep compounding, I’m struggling to quantify the actual opportunity cost of this 12-month pause.
Assuming a 6–7% inflation-adjusted return, when does a $15K/year contribution become a rounding error compared to daily market swings? Essentially, how much am I "taxing" my future self by hitting pause for just 12 months, or has the "compounding machine" already taken over to the point where this gap is negligible?