It's not too late to claim a deduction on your 2017 taxes for saving for retirement.

A recent NerdWallet study showed that 3 in 4 Americans think it's illegal to claim a deduction for contributions made to a traditional IRA after Dec. 31 but before the April tax deadline (April 17 this year). But eligible savers can claim a deduction of up to $5,500 for contributions made to an IRA after the start of the year but before the tax deadline. That amount jumps to $6,500 if you are 50 or older.

Most tax-saving activities can only be done within the tax year you are filing for — in other words, Dec. 31. But contributing to an IRA is an exception.

Let's say you are a single person who makes $50,000 per year. With the standard deduction, your taxes due would be about $5,645. But if you max out a traditional IRA by contributing $5,500, your taxes due would drop to about $4,652, for a savings of nearly $1,000.

It's generally not good financially to sacrifice $5,500 for $1,000, but this case is an exception. Investing is key to reaching your retirement goals. It's the difference between ending up with $480,000 after 40 years of saving $12,000 per year, the sum you will get with a 0 percent return, and ending up with roughly $2 million, the same amount invested at a 6 percent annual return, compounded monthly.

The longer you invest, the longer compound interest has to work its magic. Let's say you max out your traditional IRA just once. You put $5,500 in an account and leave it there without ever contributing more. At an interest rate of 6 percent, compounded monthly, that $5,500 would grow to $7,419 in five years. In 40 years, the $5,500 would turn into $60,282.

In short, compound interest supercharges your retirement savings. You may already know this if you have a 401(k) or other workplace savings plan, but if an IRA would be your first foray into retirement saving, it's a powerful lesson to note.

You could just forget about saving money in your IRA for 2017 and only focus on maxing it out for 2018. But several thousand dollars invested over the long term can add a lot to your retirement savings.

Let's say you want to retire in 40 years and you earn 6 percent on your savings. If you decide not to save for 2017 and you start with $0, you will have $892,000 in retirement savings if you put $5,500 in your savings each year going forward. However, if you max out your IRA for 2017, you will have $949,000 saved by age 65. That's a difference of $57,000, or more than 10 times your 2017 contribution of $5,500.

Erin El Issa is a writer at NerdWallet. E-mail: erin@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @Erin_El_Issa.