A little now.
A lot later.
What happens when you give your money time? Change a few things. Watch it grow. Discover the power of compounding.
Explore your own money story
See how money you put in and investment growth could combine over time. The total balance is both parts added together.
How to use it: Change the starting money, monthly additions, years, or imagined growth rate. Results update right away. Press Play to watch the chart grow, Pause to stop, or Reset to return to the beginning. You can also move the timeline slider to explore different moments, then look below to see whether growth becomes bigger than the money you added.
What could your
money grow into?
ⓘ What does this mean?
Starting amount: The money you put in at the beginning. For example, you might start with $500 saved from gifts or a part-time job. You can start at $0, too.
ⓘ What does this mean?
Monthly contribution: Money you add every month. For example, adding $25 from each month’s pay means you’re putting in $300 over a year. Here, that money goes in at the end of each month.
ⓘ What does this mean?
Time: How many years you leave your money invested while adding money each month. Choose 10 years to see what could happen over the next decade. More time also gives earlier growth a chance to grow again.
ⓘ What does this mean?
Hypothetical annual return: An imagined percentage used to explore how an investment might grow in a year. A 7% rate is roughly $7 of growth on $100 over a year. This lab splits the rate across 12 months, so each month’s growth can also earn growth. It’s an assumption, not a promise: real returns change, and you can lose money.
This growth rate is made up for exploring possibilities. Real investments can grow or lose value.
Growth is calculated monthly. New money is added at the end of each month.
When does your money take over?
These results use the numbers you chose above. Change a number and watch this update, too.
Your money took over
Two parts of the same story
What if you started earlier?
Same contributions and return. A different amount of time.Discover what a head start can do
Compare three people who start at different ages and add the same amount each month until age 50.
How to use it: Pick who you think will finish with the most money, then select “See What Happens.” Use Play, Pause, Restart, or the age slider to explore. Change the starting ages, monthly additions, or imagined growth rate to see how the comparison changes.
Same habit. Different head starts.
Three people add the same amount each month until age 50. Who do you think ends up with the most money?
Pick a person, or jump straight in and see what happens.
What would Alex need to contribute to catch Maya?
Starting later can still work, but it may require contributing more to reach the same result.