The Power of Regular savings & Compound Growth

If you have read my book – ‘Creating, Preserving, Distributing Wealth’, you will have read the definition of ‘Wealth’. Wealth is defined in terms of ‘time’ as in how long your money will last you at a given rate of spending.

Accumulating wealth is simple but not easy and it starts with a mind-shift. The mind shift is about saving money first and then spending the remaining. It’s quite simple.

You will have to make some sacrifices, some hard decisions on whether you want to live ‘Pay-check to pay-check’ or be wealthy.

So, here’s an example of how simple regular savings can work wonders with the power of compounded growth.

Ms. Penny Wise and Mr. Prokrass Tinator

This is a story shared with me by my old boss John McNicholas. It illustrates the power and effect of starting to save early enough in life.

Ms. Penny Wise was a 21-year old woman who knew little about making money. When she was young, her father had taught her the importance of regular savings and putting money aside for a rainy day. So, following his advice, as soon as she got a job, she started saving $300 per month and invested it as well. Her investment vehicle gave her 7% growth per annum which was not fantastic by any measure but she was happy with it.

Mr. Prokrass Tinator, her neighbour was a 21-year old as well. He was never taught about saving money, and he always lived for the day. He decided to  live the good life and party till he was 31. At 31 he started to save $300 per month, the same as Ms. Penny Wise and invested it in the same way with 7% growth.

As you can see from the table above, he was never able to catchup with Ms. Penny Wise even after saving for three times the period.

When are you going to start using the ‘Power of Regular Savings & Compound Growth’, to your advantage?