On her thirty-first birthday, Jean invests $1,000 into her employer's retirement plan, and she continues to make annual $1,000 payments for 10 years. So her total contribution (principal) is $10,000. Jean then stops making payments into her plan and keeps her money in the savings plan untouched for 25 more years. Doug starts putting money aside on his forty-first birthday when he deposits $1,000, and he continues these payments until he gets to be 65 years old. Doug's contributed principal amounts to $25,000 over this period of time.
If Jean's and Doug's retirement plans earn interest of 6% per year, how much will they have accumulated (principal plus interest) when they reach 65 years old? What is the moral of this situation?