---

Albert Einstein allegedly called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world, stating that those who understand it earn it, while those who do not pay it. Whether this quote is apocryphal or authentic, the sentiment captures a profound truth: compound interest is the most powerful wealth-building force available to ordinary investors.

The mathematics are simple. The results are extraordinary. A twenty-five-year-old investing just one hundred dollars monthly at seven percent annual returns accumulates over four hundred fifteen thousand dollars by retirement at age sixty-five, despite contributing only forty-eight thousand dollars personally. The remaining three hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars comes entirely from compound interest, the returns earned on previous returns.

This guide explains the mechanics of exponential growth, quantifies the time advantage through real-world scenarios, and provides actionable strategies for harnessing compound interest to build lasting wealth. Whether you are taking your first steps into investing or reassessing your current approach, understanding how time transforms modest investments into substantial fortunes is essential for financial success.

The Mathematics of Exponential Growth

Compound interest differs fundamentally from simple interest through a single mechanism: it earns returns on previously accumulated returns, not just the original principal. This recursive process creates exponential rather than linear growth, and the difference compounds into staggering wealth disparities over decades.

The Compound Interest Formula

The standard compound interest formula captures this exponential relationship:

A = P(1 + r/n)^(nt)

Where A represents the final amount, P is the principal or initial investment, r is the annual interest rate expressed as a decimal, n is the compounding frequency per year, and t is time in years.

This formula reveals that wealth accumulation is not additive but multiplicative. Each period’s returns become part of the base for calculating the next period’s returns, creating a snowball effect that accelerates over time.

Simple Interest Versus Compound Interest

To illustrate this critical difference, consider one thousand dollars invested at five percent annual interest over five years. With simple interest, you earn fifty dollars annually, always calculated on the original one thousand dollar principal. After five years, you have one thousand two hundred fifty dollars: your original principal plus five years of fifty dollar interest payments.

With compound interest, the calculation changes each year. Year one delivers fifty dollars, bringing your balance to one thousand fifty dollars. Year two calculates five percent on one thousand fifty dollars, earning fifty-two dollars fifty cents. Year three calculates on one thousand one hundred two dollars fifty cents, and so forth. After five years, you have one thousand two hundred seventy-six dollars twenty-eight cents.

The difference is twenty-six dollars twenty-eight cents, representing interest earned on previously accumulated interest. Over five years, this seems modest. Over forty years, this mechanism creates wealth differences measured in hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Power of Different Return Rates

Consider a ten thousand dollar investment compounded annually at three different return rates over forty years. At five percent annual return, the investment grows to seventy thousand four hundred dollars. At seven percent, it reaches one hundred forty-nine thousand seven hundred forty-four dollars. At ten percent, which approximates the historical average for US stock market returns, the same initial investment compounds into four hundred fifty-two thousand five hundred ninety-three dollars.

This represents more than six times the wealth from the five percent scenario, despite only a five percentage point difference in annual returns. The exponential nature of compounding magnifies small differences in return rates into massive differences in final wealth.

Over longer periods, the divergence becomes even more dramatic. A one percent difference in annual returns reduces final wealth by approximately twenty-five percent over thirty years. A two percent difference reduces it by forty percent. This is why minimizing investment fees and maximizing returns through appropriate asset allocation matters so profoundly for long-term wealth building.

The Compounding Frequency Effect

The frequency with which interest compounds also affects final wealth, though less dramatically than time or return rate. Annual compounding calculates interest once per year. Monthly compounding calculates it twelve times per year. Daily compounding calculates it three hundred sixty-five times per year.

A five thousand dollar investment at five percent annual interest compounded monthly over ten years grows to eight thousand two hundred thirty-five dollars five cents, versus eight thousand one hundred forty-four dollars forty-seven cents with annual compounding. The ninety dollar difference comes purely from more frequent compounding periods.

For most long-term investors, compounding frequency matters less than the other variables. The difference between monthly and daily compounding is negligible compared to the difference between starting at age twenty-five versus thirty-five, or earning seven percent versus five percent returns. Focus your energy on the variables that move the needle: starting early, maximizing contributions, and achieving strong returns through appropriate asset allocation.

Historical Returns and Real-World Data

Theoretical mathematics mean little without empirical validation. Fortunately, over a century of market data confirms that compound interest delivers transformative wealth accumulation for patient investors.

Stock Market Returns

The S and P five hundred, a broad index of large US companies, has delivered an average annual return of approximately ten point three percent over the past thirty years including dividend reinvestment. When adjusted for inflation, the real return averages seven point six percent annually.

A one hundred dollar investment in large-cap US stocks in nineteen twenty-eight would have grown to over six hundred thousand dollars by twenty twenty-three, representing a compound annual growth rate of approximately ten percent. After adjusting for inflation, that same investment would still be worth over fifty-five thousand dollars in real purchasing power.

Compare this to savings accounts or bonds. One hundred dollars in a savings account earning average rates over the same period would have grown to perhaps three thousand dollars nominally, but only two hundred fifty dollars in inflation-adjusted terms. Stocks delivered more than two hundred times the real wealth accumulation of savings.

Even over shorter periods, the pattern holds. From nineteen ninety to twenty twenty, the S and P five hundred delivered average annual returns of approximately ten percent. A ten thousand dollar investment in nineteen ninety would have grown to over one hundred seventy thousand dollars by twenty twenty. Adjusted for inflation, that represents real purchasing power of approximately ninety thousand dollars.

Learn more about the difference between investing and saving money with our quick guide.

Bond Returns

Bonds, while more conservative than stocks, also outperform savings accounts over long periods through compound interest. Investment-grade corporate bonds have historically delivered returns of five to six percent annually, comfortably ahead of inflation and savings account rates.

A ten thousand dollar bond investment at six percent annual return compounded over thirty years grows to fifty-seven thousand four hundred thirty-five dollars. While substantially less than stock returns, this still represents nearly six times the initial investment through the power of compounding.

The Inflation-Adjusted Reality

Nominal returns tell only half the story. The critical metric for wealth building is real return, which is the return above inflation. A savings account paying three percent interest sounds reasonable until you realize inflation is running at four percent. Your nominal return is positive three percent, but your real return is negative one percent. You are losing purchasing power despite earning interest.

Over thirty years, the difference between nominal and real returns becomes dramatic. Ten thousand dollars growing at eight percent nominal returns reaches one hundred thousand six hundred thirty-three dollars. But if inflation averaged three percent during that period, the real purchasing power of that money is only forty-one thousand one hundred sixty-one dollars in today’s terms.

This is why stocks, despite their volatility, remain essential for long-term wealth building. They have historically provided real returns of approximately seven percent after inflation. Bonds provide approximately two to three percent real returns. Savings accounts typically deliver negative real returns over time.

The Time Component: Your Most Valuable Asset

Time is the most powerful variable in the compound interest equation, and it cannot be recovered once lost. The earlier you start investing, the more dramatically compound interest works in your favor.

The Classic Early Start Advantage

The seminal example compares two investors, each contributing three thousand dollars annually at a seven percent return. Investor A contributes from age twenty-five to thirty-five, a total of ten years and thirty thousand dollars in contributions, then stops completely. Investor B begins at age thirty-five and contributes consistently until age sixty-five, a total of thirty years and ninety thousand dollars in contributions.

Despite contributing three times less capital, Investor A accumulates four hundred eighty-two thousand dollars by retirement at age sixty-five. Investor B reaches only three hundred fifty-nine thousand dollars. The ten-year head start, despite being followed by thirty years of zero contributions, delivers thirty-four percent more wealth.

This counterintuitive result is purely the effect of time. Investor A’s contributions had ten additional years to compound before Investor B even started. Those extra years of compound growth more than compensated for the smaller total contribution.

The advantage extends further. A twenty-five-year-old investing five thousand dollars annually at seven percent returns achieves one million dollars by age sixty-five. Someone starting at age thirty-five accumulates less than five hundred thousand dollars, despite thirty years of contributions versus forty. The ten-year delay costs over five hundred thousand dollars in final wealth.

Learn more how to start investing in 2026 with our complete guide.

The Rule of 72: Estimating Doubling Time

The Rule of seventy-two provides a quick mental calculation for estimating how long it takes money to double at a given return rate. Divide seventy-two by your annual return rate to find the approximate doubling time in years.

At three percent return, money doubles every twenty-four years. At five percent, it doubles every fourteen point four years. At seven percent, it doubles every ten point three years. At ten percent, it doubles every seven point two years.

Over a forty-year career, seven percent returns give you four doublings, turning ten thousand dollars into one hundred sixty thousand dollars. Three percent returns give you less than two doublings, turning ten thousand dollars into only twenty-four thousand dollars. The difference between these return rates, magnified by time and compounding, creates a six point seven times wealth difference.

The Psychological Challenge of Early Investing

The difficulty of early investing is psychological, not mathematical. A twenty-five-year-old investing two hundred dollars monthly at eight percent return sees approximately thirty-six thousand dollars after ten years, only slightly exceeding the twenty-four thousand dollars contributed. The gains feel modest and hardly worth the sacrifice.

But that same investment grows to two hundred eighty thousand dollars over thirty years, with the final decade producing exponential acceleration as the compounding base grows larger. The first decade builds the foundation. The second decade shows meaningful progress. The third decade delivers the exponential payoff.

Most investors quit during the first decade because the results feel disappointing. They fail to recognize that they are building the base that will compound into substantial wealth later. Patience during the slow early years is the price of admission for exponential wealth later.

The Mechanics of Accelerating Growth

Understanding where wealth comes from during different investment phases helps maintain discipline during the slow early years and reinforces the importance of staying invested during the exponential later years.

The Three Phases of Wealth Accumulation

Morgan Housel describes wealth accumulation as following the eight-four-three rule, though the specific numbers vary by return rate and contribution amount. The principle is that wealth accumulation accelerates dramatically in later years.

Consider one hundred dollar monthly investments at six percent return over thirty years. After ten years, the portfolio reaches approximately thirteen thousand eight hundred sixteen dollars, with three thousand eight hundred sixteen dollars coming from investment gains. Contributions represent seventy-three percent of portfolio value.

After twenty years, gains have nearly equaled principal at roughly twenty thousand dollars in gains on twenty-four thousand dollars contributed. Contributions now represent fifty-five percent of portfolio value.

By year thirty, compound gains total approximately sixty-one thousand four hundred fifty-one dollars on thirty-six thousand dollars contributed. Investment returns now exceed total contributions by seventy percent. Contributions represent only thirty-seven percent of portfolio value.

This pattern reveals why time matters so profoundly. In the early years, your contributions dominate portfolio growth. In the middle years, contributions and returns contribute roughly equally. In the later years, compound returns dominate and contributions become almost irrelevant to the exponential growth trajectory.

Monthly Contribution Examples

An investor contributing five hundred dollars monthly starting at age thirty at seven percent annual return accumulates over two hundred sixty thousand dollars in twenty years, despite contributing only one hundred twenty thousand dollars. The investment itself generates one hundred forty thousand dollars in gains, a one hundred seventeen percent return on contributed capital.

Increase the time horizon to thirty years, and the same five hundred dollar monthly contribution grows to over six hundred thousand dollars. Contributions total one hundred eighty thousand dollars. Investment gains total four hundred twenty thousand dollars, a two hundred thirty-three percent return on contributed capital.

Monthly investments of one thousand dollars at six percent return over thirty years produce one million ten thousand five hundred thirty-eight dollars, with contributions totaling only three hundred sixty thousand dollars. The investment itself generates six hundred fifty thousand five hundred thirty-eight dollars in gains, representing one hundred eighty-one percent returns on contributed capital.

Increase the contribution frequency to biweekly while maintaining one thousand dollars monthly total, and the thirty-year result jumps to over one million dollars, demonstrating that regular reinvestment frequency amplifies compounding effects.

Warren Buffett: Empirical Proof of Exponential Wealth

Warren Buffett’s wealth accumulation provides the most compelling real-world demonstration of compound interest’s power. At age sixty-five, Buffett’s net worth stood at approximately three billion dollars. By age ninety-four, that figure reached one hundred sixty billion dollars, a five thousand two hundred thirty-three percent increase.

Remarkably, ninety-eight to ninety-nine percent of his entire fortune accumulated after turning sixty-five. Specifically, ninety percent of his wealth came after age eighty-two. This is not because Buffett suddenly became a better investor in his eighties. It is purely the mathematical effect of compound interest working on a large base over extended time.

Buffett himself stated that his life has been a product of compound interest, encapsulating how time and patience transformed consistent discipline into historic wealth. His trajectory illustrates that the exponential phase of wealth accumulation occurs in the final decades, not the early years.

For ordinary investors, this pattern provides both encouragement and caution. Encouragement because it demonstrates that patient, disciplined investing delivers extraordinary results over time. Caution because it reveals that most wealth accumulation occurs late in life, requiring decades of patience through the slow early years.

Critical Success Factors for Capitalizing on Compound Growth

Harnessing compound interest requires more than understanding the mathematics. Five critical success factors determine whether investors capture the full power of exponential growth or undermine it through common mistakes.

Start Early

Time is the most powerful variable in the compound interest equation and the only one that cannot be recovered. Every year of delay costs exponentially more wealth as the compounding period shortens. A twenty-five-year-old has forty years until retirement. A thirty-five-year-old has thirty years. That ten-year difference represents twenty-five percent less compounding time, but it typically results in fifty percent less final wealth due to exponential effects.

The best time to start investing was twenty years ago. The second-best time is today. Even if you are starting late, starting now is infinitely better than waiting another year.

Reinvest All Returns

Compound interest only works if returns are reinvested rather than spent. Dividends, interest payments, and capital gains distributions must be automatically reinvested to purchase additional shares. Taking distributions as cash converts compound interest into simple interest, dramatically reducing long-term wealth.

Over decades, reinvested dividends account for a substantial portion of total returns, often forty to fifty percent. An investor who spends dividends rather than reinvesting them surrenders nearly half of their potential wealth accumulation.

Set all investment accounts to automatically reinvest distributions. Never take distributions as cash unless you need the income for living expenses. Every dollar taken as cash is a dollar that stops compounding.

Maintain Consistency

Compound interest rewards consistency over perfection. Regular monthly contributions, regardless of market conditions, capture the full benefit of dollar-cost averaging while ensuring continuous compounding. Investors who contribute sporadically or stop during market downturns miss the compounding periods when their money could be buying shares at discounted prices.

Automate monthly contributions from your bank account to your investment account. Remove the decision from your conscious control. The money transfers automatically, invests automatically, and compounds automatically without requiring willpower or market timing decisions.

Control Costs

Fees are the enemy of compound interest because they compound negatively just as returns compound positively. A one percent annual fee might seem trivial, but over thirty years it reduces your portfolio by approximately twenty-five percent compared to a zero point one percent fee.

The mathematics are inexorable. If your investments earn seven percent annually but you pay one percent in fees, your net return is six percent. Over thirty years, ten thousand dollars at seven percent grows to seventy-six thousand one hundred twenty-three dollars. At six percent, it grows to only fifty-seven thousand four hundred thirty-five dollars. The one percent fee cost you eighteen thousand six hundred eighty-eight dollars, twenty-five percent of your potential wealth.

Prioritize low-cost index funds with expense ratios below zero point two percent. Avoid actively managed funds charging one percent or more unless they demonstrate consistent outperformance, which fewer than ten percent do over long periods.

Avoid Idle Cash

Cash sitting in checking accounts or low-interest savings accounts earns minimal returns and loses purchasing power to inflation. While you need an emergency fund of three to six months of expenses in liquid savings, everything beyond that should be invested for growth.

Every dollar sitting idle is a dollar not compounding. Over decades, the opportunity cost of uninvested cash compounds into substantial lost wealth. A ten thousand dollar emergency fund sitting in a checking account earning zero percent for thirty years remains ten thousand dollars. That same ten thousand dollars invested at seven percent grows to seventy-six thousand one hundred twenty-three dollars.

Keep only your emergency fund in savings. Invest everything else in diversified portfolios aligned with your time horizon and risk tolerance.

Inflation Considerations and Real Returns

While nominal returns average ten percent historically for stock market investments, inflation reduces purchasing power. Real returns, which are inflation-adjusted, average six to seven percent annually for stocks.

Using conservative six percent real return assumptions provides more defensible long-term projections than nominal returns. At six percent real return, one hundred dollar monthly investments over thirty years produce approximately ninety-seven thousand four hundred fifty-one dollars in today’s purchasing power. This still represents one hundred seventy percent returns on thirty-six thousand dollars contributed capital, demonstrating that even inflation-adjusted returns deliver substantial wealth through compounding.

The difference between nominal and real returns matters for planning purposes. If you need one million dollars in today’s purchasing power for retirement in thirty years, and inflation averages three percent annually, you actually need two point four million dollars in nominal terms. Planning based on real returns ensures your projections account for inflation’s erosive effects.

Stocks provide natural inflation protection because companies can raise prices to offset input cost increases, maintaining profit margins. Revenues grow with nominal GDP, which includes inflation. Bonds offer no such mechanism, making stocks essential for long-term wealth building in inflationary environments.

Learn more about the state of tech companies and AI bubbles in the US economy.

Time Horizon and Market Volatility

Short-term market volatility is the price investors pay for long-term compound returns. Understanding this trade-off helps maintain discipline during inevitable market crashes.

Historical Volatility Patterns

The S and P five hundred has exhibited negative returns in approximately twenty-five percent of calendar years over the past century. However, over any ten-year rolling period since the Great Depression, stocks have beaten bonds eighty-nine percent of the time. Over fifteen to twenty-year periods, stocks have never failed to beat bonds.

This pattern reveals that time horizon is the most powerful predictor of equity returns. The longer you hold stocks, the more likely you are to outperform bonds and the less likely you are to experience losses. A one-year investment in stocks carries substantial risk. A thirty-year investment in stocks has never produced negative real returns in US market history.

The 2008 Financial Crisis Example

Investors who remained fully invested throughout the two thousand eight financial crisis, which saw the S and P five hundred decline thirty-seven percent, recovered completely within five years and proceeded to accumulate considerably greater wealth than those who exited markets.

Those who sold during the panic locked in permanent losses and missed the subsequent recovery, which saw the S and P five hundred more than triple from its March two thousand nine lows by two thousand fourteen. The difference in lifetime wealth between these two groups is staggering, often hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars.

This historical pattern demonstrates that time heals significant market wounds for investors who stay invested. Compound interest only works if you remain invested through all market conditions, allowing your returns to compound through both bull and bear markets.

Strategic Implications for Different Life Stages

Investment strategy evolves as life circumstances change. Understanding stage-specific considerations helps optimize compound interest’s power.

For Early-Career Professionals: Ages 25-35

Young investors possess the most valuable investment asset: time. Decades until retirement allow aggressive stock allocations because even severe bear markets have time to recover. A thirty-year-old experiencing a fifty percent crash at age thirty-five has thirty years for recovery before retirement at sixty-five.

Prioritize maximizing contributions over perfect allocation. Investing five hundred dollars monthly in a seventy-thirty stock-bond portfolio delivers better outcomes than investing two hundred dollars monthly in a perfectly optimized ninety-ten portfolio. Focus on building the savings habit and increasing contribution amounts as income grows.

Even small amounts compound dramatically over forty years. One hundred dollars monthly from age twenty-five to sixty-five at seven percent returns accumulates over four hundred fifteen thousand dollars. Two hundred dollars monthly accumulates over eight hundred thirty thousand dollars. The key is starting immediately and maintaining consistency.

For Mid-Career Professionals: Ages 35-50

Mid-career investors face competing priorities. Retirement approaches, reducing time horizon and increasing the importance of capital preservation. However, decades of retirement ahead still require growth to outpace inflation and support thirty-plus years of withdrawals.

This stage requires gradual allocation shifts toward bonds while maintaining meaningful stock exposure. A forty-year-old might hold seventy percent stocks. By fifty, this might decline to sixty percent. These gradual shifts reduce volatility as retirement approaches without abandoning growth entirely.

Mid-career investors should maximize retirement contributions to catch up if they started late. Contribution limits increase at age fifty, allowing additional catch-up contributions. Take full advantage of these higher limits to accelerate wealth accumulation through compound interest.

For Late-Career Professionals: Ages 50-65

Investors within fifteen years of retirement must balance continued growth with capital preservation. Portfolio withdrawals begin soon, creating sequence-of-returns risk where early retirement losses can permanently impair portfolio sustainability.

Conservative allocations of fifty to sixty percent stocks and forty to fifty percent bonds reduce this risk while maintaining inflation protection through continued stock exposure. Bond allocations provide stable assets to fund withdrawals during stock bear markets, allowing equity positions to recover without forced selling.

Importantly, starting at age thirty-five, forty, or even fifty remains substantially superior to not starting. A fifty-year-old investing five hundred dollars monthly at seven percent returns accumulates over one hundred fifty thousand dollars by retirement at sixty-five. While less than starting at twenty-five, this still represents substantial wealth from fifteen years of compound interest.

Practical Implementation: Harnessing Compound Interest Today

Understanding compound interest means nothing without implementation. These practical steps translate theory into wealth-building action.

Step One: Open Investment Accounts

Open a tax-advantaged retirement account like a Roth IRA or traditional IRA if you have not already. These accounts provide tax benefits that enhance compound returns. Roth IRAs offer tax-free growth and withdrawals. Traditional IRAs offer tax-deductible contributions and tax-deferred growth.

If your employer offers a four hundred one k with matching contributions, maximize the match before any other investing. Employer matching is free money and an immediate fifty to one hundred percent return on your investment.

Step Two: Automate Monthly Contributions

Set up automatic monthly transfers from your bank account to your investment account. Start with whatever amount you can afford, even if it is just fifty or one hundred dollars monthly. The specific amount matters less than establishing the habit and allowing time to work its magic.

Automation removes the decision from your conscious control. The money transfers automatically, eliminating the temptation to skip months or reduce contributions during market downturns. Consistency is more important than contribution size for capturing compound interest’s full power.

Step Three: Invest in Diversified Index Funds

For most investors, a simple three-fund portfolio provides complete diversification at rock-bottom costs. Allocate sixty to seventy percent to a total US stock market index fund, twenty to thirty percent to a total international stock market index fund, and ten to twenty percent to a total bond market index fund.

This allocation captures global equity growth while providing bond stability. Total annual costs are typically below zero point one percent, ensuring that fees do not erode compound returns. You are diversified across thousands of companies and multiple asset classes with just three holdings.

Step Four: Reinvest All Distributions

Set all accounts to automatically reinvest dividends, interest, and capital gains distributions. Never take distributions as cash unless you need the income for living expenses. Every dollar reinvested immediately begins compounding, maximizing long-term wealth accumulation.

Over decades, reinvested distributions account for forty to fifty percent of total returns. Spending distributions rather than reinvesting them surrenders nearly half of your potential wealth.

Step Five: Never Sell During Market Crashes

Markets will crash. Your portfolio will decline twenty, thirty, even fifty percent during severe bear markets. This is the price of admission for long-term compound returns. Investors who sell during crashes lock in losses that would have recovered with patience.

Write down your commitment now, when you are calm and rational: I will not sell during market downturns. I will continue my automatic contributions regardless of headlines. I will view crashes as sales where I am buying shares at discounted prices.

This behavioral discipline is more important than any other factor in capturing compound interest’s full power. The mathematics work only if you stay invested through all market conditions.

Conclusion: The Profound Power of Patient Capital

Compound interest is not magic. It is mathematics. But the results, when given sufficient time, appear magical to those who have not witnessed exponential growth firsthand.

The difference between contributing three thousand dollars annually for ten years versus thirty years produces a one hundred twenty-three thousand dollar portfolio difference, not from superior returns but from the exponential nature of the underlying mathematics. A twenty-five-year-old investing one hundred dollars monthly at seven percent returns accumulates approximately four hundred fifteen thousand dollars by age sixty-five, requiring only forty-eight thousand dollars in personal contributions. The investment itself generates nearly three hundred sixty-seven thousand dollars in returns.

That same investment starting at age thirty-five produces two hundred forty-four thousand dollars, still impressive but one hundred seventy-one thousand dollars less due to ten fewer compounding years. The ten-year delay costs more than three times the total amount contributed.

Warren Buffett’s trajectory from three billion dollars at age sixty-five to one hundred sixty billion dollars at age ninety-four transcends personal finance into historical significance. Ninety-eight percent of his wealth accumulated after age sixty-five, purely through compound interest working on a large base over extended time.

As Buffett himself observed, someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago. Financial security today stems from investment decisions made years or decades prior. The trees you plant today through consistent investing will provide shade for your future self.

The mathematics are universal. Whether investing in US equities, international markets, or bonds, the principles remain identical: start early, contribute consistently, reinvest returns, minimize costs, and allow time to transform modest investments into significant wealth.

The perfect time to start investing passed yesterday. The second-best time is today. Open that account this week. Set up automatic contributions next week. Then step back and let compound interest, the eighth wonder of the world, work its exponential magic over the decades ahead.

Your future self will thank you for the trees you plant today.

---