hep1974: "i do have another question. in the beginning i won't be able to put too much away for retirement because of my current budget. i've read articles that even a little per month is better than nothing. is that true?"

Yes.

"for example, if i put like a measly $50/mo each for me and my wife for the next 30yrs. can i really do much with that?"

Yes. Somewhere around 200k total if your CAGR is 10%. I do not have a spreadsheet designed for monthly investment, but when I run $1200 invested per year for 29 years (i.e., as if you were investing the $1200 on December 31, year-end of each year) I get $196,192.83. Get a 12% CAGR and you would have in excess of $288,000.

"i still have the thinking that "if you don't have much, why invest?" obviously, that's not my plan but if that were the scenario - could it still work?"

It little bit helps, and starting now helps ingrain the decision to invest; waiting until xyz often leads to then waiting for abc, and then def, so that you never really start investing.

Regards, JAFO

thanks for reading...all of you have been helpful.