provide one reason that it is important to start putting money away for retirement as early as possible.

One key reason to start putting money away for retirement as early as possible is to take full advantage of compound interest. Compound interest allows the interest earned on savings to also earn interest over time, creating a snowball effect that significantly increases the total amount saved by retirement. Starting early means the money has more time to grow exponentially, which can result in a substantially larger retirement fund, even if contributions are smaller initially compared to starting later with larger amounts.