Starting Early

Last updated: Sat 29-Aug-2026 afternoon

Criticality

It cannot be overstated just how critical it is to start early.

  • Compounding is the eighth wonder of the world – Albert Einstein.
  • Start early and you can get compounding working for you.
  • Start late and you lose out to the advantages.
  • Compounding can allow your money to earn more than your annual salary for you.

Table

If you go here you can generate a table of the returns that you get (as noted below).

We will use this site to generate three different scenarios:

  • Scenario 01: Invest for 40 years.
  • Scenario 02: Invest for 10 years then coast.
  • Scenario 03: Do nothing for 10 years, then invest for 30 years.

Factors to generate the table

  • Initial investment: $0
  • Regular addition: $100 monthly
  • Interest rate: 7% annually
  • Interest is compounded: Monthly
  • Time Horizon: 40 Years

Scenario 01: Invest for 40 Years

  • Invest each month of each year for 40 years
  Yearly Investment Total Investment Yearly Interest Total Interest Total Value
1 1,200 1,200 39 39 1,239
2 1,200 2,400 129 168 2,568
3 1,200 3,600 225 393 3,993
4 1,200 4,800 328 721 5,521
5 1,200 6,000 438 1,159 7,159
6 1,200 7,200 557 1,716 8,916
7 1,200 8,400 684 2,400 10,800
8 1,200 9,600 820 3,220 12,820
9 1,200 10,800 966 4,186 14,986
10 1,200 12,000 1,123 5,308 17,308
11 1,200 13,200 1,290 6,599 19,799
12 1,200 14,400 1,471 8,070 22,470
13 1,200 15,600 1,664 9,733 25,333
14 1,200 16,800 1,871 11,604 28,404
15 1,200 18,000 2,093 13,696 31,696
16 1,200 19,200 2,331 16,027 35,227
17 1,200 20,400 2,586 18,613 39,013
18 1,200 21,600 2,859 21,472 43,072
19 1,200 22,800 3,153 24,625 47,425
20 1,200 24,000 3,468 28,093 52,093
21 1,200 25,200 3,805 31,898 57,098
22 1,200 26,400 4,167 36,065 62,465
23 1,200 27,600 4,555 40,619 68,219
24 1,200 28,800 4,971 45,590 74,390
25 1,200 30,000 5,417 51,007 81,007
26 1,200 31,200 5,895 56,902 88,102
27 1,200 32,400 6,408 63,311 95,711
28 1,200 33,600 6,958 70,269 103,869
29 1,200 34,800 7,548 77,817 112,617
30 1,200 36,000 8,180 85,997 121,997
31 1,200 37,200 8,858 94,856 132,056
32 1,200 38,400 9,586 104,441 142,841
33 1,200 39,600 10,365 114,806 154,406
34 1,200 40,800 11,201 126,008 166,808
35 1,200 42,000 12,098 138,105 180,105
36 1,200 43,200 13,059 151,165 194,365
37 1,200 44,400 14,090 165,254 209,654
38 1,200 45,600 15,195 180,450 226,050
39 1,200 46,800 16,380 196,830 243,630
40 1,200 48,000 17,651 214,481 262,481

At the end of 40 years:

  • You’ve invested: $48,000
  • You’ve earned: $214,481 in interest
  • Your total value is: $262,481

Scenario 02: Invest for 10 Years Then Coast

  • Invest each month of each year for 10 years.
  • Then just coast and leave the money invested.
  • Note that this is NOT to suggest that this is a good option.
  • Keep on investing as in Scenario 01: Invest for 40 Years
  Yearly Investment Total Investment Yearly Interest Total Interest Total Value
1 1,200 1,200 39 39 1,239
2 1,200 2,400 129 168 2,568
3 1,200 3,600 225 393 3,993
4 1,200 4,800 328 721 5,521
5 1,200 6,000 438 1,159 7,159
6 1,200 7,200 557 1,716 8,916
7 1,200 8,400 684 2,400 10,800
8 1,200 9,600 820 3,220 12,820
9 1,200 10,800 966 4,186 14,986
10 1,200 12,000 1,123 5,308 17,308
11 - 12,000 1,251 6,560 18,559
12 - 12,000 1,342 7,901 19,901
13 - 12,000 1,439 9,340 21,339
14 - 12,000 1,543 10,883 22,882
15 - 12,000 1,654 12,537 24,536
16 - 12,000 1,774 14,310 26,310
17 - 12,000 1,902 16,212 28,212
18 - 12,000 2,039 18,252 30,251
19 - 12,000 2,187 20,439 32,438
20 - 12,000 2,345 22,784 34,783
21 - 12,000 2,514 25,298 37,298
22 - 12,000 2,696 27,994 39,994
23 - 12,000 2,891 30,886 42,885
24 - 12,000 3,100 33,986 45,985
25 - 12,000 3,324 37,310 49,310
26 - 12,000 3,565 40,875 52,874
27 - 12,000 3,822 44,697 56,696
28 - 12,000 4,099 48,796 60,795
29 - 12,000 4,395 53,190 65,190
30 - 12,000 4,713 57,903 69,902
31 - 12,000 5,053 62,956 74,956
32 - 12,000 5,419 68,375 80,374
33 - 12,000 5,810 74,185 86,185
34 - 12,000 6,230 80,415 92,415
35 - 12,000 6,681 87,096 99,096
36 - 12,000 7,164 94,260 106,259
37 - 12,000 7,681 101,941 113,941
38 - 12,000 8,237 110,178 122,177
39 - 12,000 8,832 119,010 131,010
40 - 12,000 9,471 128,481 140,480

At the end of 40 years:

  • You’ve invested: $12,000
  • You’ve earned: $128,481 in interest
  • Your total value is: $140,480

Scenario 03: Do Nothing for 10 Years And Then Invest

  • Skip the first ten years.
  • Then invest each month of each year for 30 years.
  • Note that this is definitely NOT to suggest that this is a good option.
  • Keep on investing as in Scenario 01: Invest for 40 Years
  Yearly Investment Total Investment Yearly Interest Total Interest Total Value
1 - - - - -
2 - - - - -
3 - - - - -
4 - - - - -
5 - - - - -
6 - - - - -
7 - - - - -
8 - - - - -
9 - - - - -
10 - - - - -
11 1,200 1,200 39 39 1,239
12 1,200 2,400 129 168 2,568
13 1,200 3,600 225 393 3,993
14 1,200 4,800 328 721 5,521
15 1,200 6,000 438 1,159 7,159
16 1,200 7,200 557 1,716 8,916
17 1,200 8,400 684 2,400 10,800
18 1,200 9,600 820 3,220 12,820
19 1,200 10,800 966 4,186 14,986
20 1,200 12,000 1,123 5,308 17,308
21 1,200 13,200 1,290 6,599 19,799
22 1,200 14,400 1,471 8,070 22,470
23 1,200 15,600 1,664 9,733 25,333
24 1,200 16,800 1,871 11,604 28,404
25 1,200 18,000 2,093 13,696 31,696
26 1,200 19,200 2,331 16,027 35,227
27 1,200 20,400 2,586 18,613 39,013
28 1,200 21,600 2,859 21,472 43,072
29 1,200 22,800 3,153 24,625 47,425
30 1,200 24,000 3,468 28,093 52,093
31 1,200 25,200 3,805 31,898 57,098
32 1,200 26,400 4,167 36,065 62,465
33 1,200 27,600 4,555 40,619 68,219
34 1,200 28,800 4,971 45,590 74,390
35 1,200 30,000 5,417 51,007 81,007
36 1,200 31,200 5,895 56,902 88,102
37 1,200 32,400 6,408 63,311 95,711
38 1,200 33,600 6,958 70,269 103,869
39 1,200 34,800 7,548 77,817 112,617
40 1,200 36,000 8,180 85,997 121,997

At the end of 40 years:

  • You’ve invested: $36,000
  • You’ve earned: $85,997 in interest
  • Your total value is: $121,997

Summary

Table

  Scenario 01: Invest for 40 Years Scenario 02: Invest for 10 Years Then Coast Scenario 03: Do Nothing for 10 Years And Then Invest
Your Contributions $48,000 $12,000 $36,000
Total Interest Earned $214,481 $128,481 $85,997
At The End of 40 Years $262,481 $140,480 $121,997
Overall Growth 547% 1,171% 339%

Note the following common things in each scenario

  • Initial investment: $0
  • Regular addition: $100 monthly
  • Interest rate: 7% annually
  • Interest is compounded: Monthly
  • Time Horizon: 40 Years

Graph 

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    title "Starting Early"
    x-axis [01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40]
    line "40 years" [1239, 2568, 3993, 5521, 7159, 8916, 10800, 12820, 14986, 17308, 19799, 22470, 25333, 28404, 31696, 35227, 39013, 43072, 47425, 52093, 57098, 62465, 68219, 74390, 81007, 88102, 95711, 103869, 112617, 121997, 132056, 142841, 154406, 166808, 180105, 194365, 209654, 226050, 243630, 262481]
    line "First 10" [1239, 2568, 3993, 5521, 7159, 8916, 10800, 12820, 14986, 17308, 18559, 19901, 21339, 22882, 24536, 26310, 28212, 30251, 32438, 34783, 37298, 39994, 42885, 45985, 49310, 52874, 56696, 60795, 65190, 69902, 74956, 80374, 86185, 92415, 99096, 106259, 113941, 122177, 131010, 140480]
    line "Last 30" [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1239, 2568, 3993, 5521, 7159, 8916, 10800, 12820, 14986, 17308, 19799, 22470, 25333, 28404, 31696, 35227, 39013, 43072, 47425, 52093, 57098, 62465, 68219, 74390, 81007, 88102, 95711, 103869, 112617, 121997]

Key Take Away

  • Investing without stopping is the clear winner - DO THIS.
  • Even 30 years of investing cannot overcome that initial 10 years - START EARLY.
  • Compounding works

Appendix

References

Version History

  Date Notes
01 Sat 29-Aug-2026 Initial version factored out from top level
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