Learn how compound interest can help your money grow (2024)

Learn how compound interest can help your money grow (1)


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Over long periods of time, compound interest supercharges your savings. The money you’re putting away is making money for you, helping you reach your goals faster.

Like a jet on a runway, it starts off flat, then takes off and climbs upward.

What is compound interest?

The money you save earns interest, which is what you are paid by the bank for holding your money. If you leave that interest in your account, it also starts earning interest of its own. Compound interest is when you earn interest on both the money you’ve saved and the interest it earns.

In this guide

What is compound interest?

How compound interest works

The earlier you start, the more your money grows

The secret to compounding is time

Use compound returns to keep ahead of inflation

Take advantage of compound returns for your long-term goals

See how your savings and investments can grow

How compound interest works

If you save $100 at 10% interest, after a year you have $110. The next year, your $100 earns another $10 – and the first $10 of interest also earns $1 interest of its own. So your balance grows to $121, not $120. The extra might not seem like much at first, but after three years you’ll have $133. And so on, until after 10 years your $100 has become $259 – which is $159 just from compound interest.

Compounding works for all types of investment returns, not just interest on savings in the bank. So you can have compound returns as well as compound interest.

Learn how compound interest can help your money grow (2)

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The earlier you start, the more your money grows

Let’s say you invest $2000 each year (into an aggressive investment fund of mostly shares, earning the same average annual return of 5.5%). If you start at age 18 and stopped at 41 you’d see your money grow seven times to $362,562 at age 65.

If you instead wait until age 42 to start investing, you’d still have invested $48,000 over 23 years. But you would end up only doubling your money to $100,305 by age 65.

The secret to compounding is time

Leave in as long as possible to maximise the earning power of compounding.

Use compound returns to keep ahead of inflation

Do you remember when you could get a big block of cheese for just $8? Or maybe your parents or grandparents talk about how cheap things used to be? Prices tend to increase, and they’ve gone up a fair bit through the years.

As prices inflate and things get more expensive – whether it’s food, petrol, housing or cars – our money buys less and less. That’s inflation.

Although we may have cash stashed away, it’s losing value all the time, like sand slipping through our fingers. This can make it challenging to save for long-term goals.

How can we build up enough to stay ahead of inflation?

One way is to invest so our money grows through compound returns. Ideally we want the rate of return to be higher than the rate of inflation.

Take advantage of compound returns for your long-term goals

Investing is the way to make the most of your money and reach your long-term goals – things that are 10 years or more in the future.

If you’d like to give this a go, check out our guide to help you get started, and our tool to work out your investor profile.

If you’re in KiwiSaver, you’re already an investor. The money we put in is invested in assets (types of investments like shares and property) managed by professionals, and the returns compound each year. This is why it works so well for long-term goals such as retirement or buying your first home.

The benefits of compounding also continue during retirement on the money you don’t withdraw straight away, helping make your money last longer.

To get an idea of what you are on track to achieve in KiwiSaver in the run up to retirement, or to see how long your money will last once you’ve stopped working, try our KiwiSaver calculator.

See how your savings and investments can grow

Find out how compound interest can make your savings grow over time by using our savings calculator.

Try it now

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6 steps to get sorted

Don’t know where to start? Our 6 steps will help you to take control of your money.

Head to the 6 steps

Learn how compound interest can help your money grow (7)

Learn how compound interest can help your money grow (2024)

FAQs

Learn how compound interest can help your money grow? ›

Over the long term, compound growth can multiply your initial investment exponentially. In our hypothetical example, if your return stayed at 6%, by year 30, your annual earnings would be $325.10. That's more than five times the $60 return you earned the first year — just for sitting by and letting your money grow 1.

How does compound interest help your money grow? ›

Compound interest makes your money grow faster because interest is calculated on the accumulated interest over time as well as on your original principal. Compounding can create a snowball effect, as the original investments plus the income earned from those investments grow together.

How can I grow my money with compound interest? ›

Investing in your super is one of the most effective ways to potentially maximise the benefits of compound interest. Why? Time is on your side. The more you contribute to your super early on in life, the higher potential for that money to grow by the time you need it as a result of compound interest.

How much is $1000 worth at the end of 2 years if the interest rate of 6% is compounded daily? ›

Basic compound interest

For other compounding frequencies (such as monthly, weekly, or daily), prospective depositors should refer to the formula below. Hence, if a two-year savings account containing $1,000 pays a 6% interest rate compounded daily, it will grow to $1,127.49 at the end of two years.

How to build wealth using compound interest? ›

How to Grow Your Investments With Compound Interest
  1. Get out of debt. Compound interest is a powerful force. ...
  2. Invest with mutual funds. When you're investing to save for retirement, you should put your money in mutual funds. ...
  3. Start as soon as possible. ...
  4. Increase your contributions each year. ...
  5. Exercise patience.
Sep 6, 2023

How to become a millionaire with compound interest? ›

To become a millionaire, start saving early and invest your money to take advantage of the power of compounding interest. Savvy savers limit their spending so that they can put more money to work for them. Maximize your retirement contributions every year to earn tax-deferred or tax-free growth.

How do I compound my money? ›

Compounding is a powerful investing concept that involves earning returns on both your original investment and on returns you received previously. For compounding to work, you need to reinvest your returns back into your account. For example, you invest $1,000 and earn a 6% rate of return.

How much money do I need to invest to make $4000 a month? ›

Making $4,000 a month based on your investments alone is not a small feat. For example, if you have an investment or combination of investments with a 9.5% yield, you would have to invest $500,000 or more potentially. This is a high amount, but could almost guarantee you a $4,000 monthly dividend income.

How much money do I need to invest to make $3,000 a month? ›

Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.

Where is the best place to put money for compound interest? ›

Some of the best types of compound interest accounts are high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs), certificates of deposit (CDs) and money market accounts (MMAs).

How much will $10,000 be worth in 20 years? ›

The table below shows the present value (PV) of $10,000 in 20 years for interest rates from 2% to 30%. As you will see, the future value of $10,000 over 20 years can range from $14,859.47 to $1,900,496.38.

How long will it take $4000 to grow to $9000 if it is invested at 7% compounded monthly? ›

- At 7% compounded monthly, it will take approximately 11.6 years for $4,000 to grow to $9,000. - At 6% compounded quarterly, it will take approximately 13.6 years for $4,000 to grow to $9,000.

How much will 100k be worth in 30 years? ›

Answer and Explanation: The amount of $100,000 will grow to $432,194.24 after 30 years at a 5% annual return. The amount of $100,000 will grow to $1,006,265.69 after 30 years at an 8% annual return.

How does Warren Buffett use compound interest? ›

Compound interest accumulates not only on the initial amount invested, but also to the interest in previous periods. Buffett has compared it to a snowball rolling down a hill. By the time it gets to the bottom, it is much larger.

What is the magic of compound interest? ›

When you invest, your account earns compound interest. This means, not only will you earn money on the principal amount in your account, but you will also earn interest on the accrued interest you've already earned.

What is the secret to compound interest? ›

With compound interest, the power of time is everything. The sooner you start saving or investing, the longer you give that money to grow. This is why it's important to start investing for retirement as soon as possible. The earlier you start, the less of your own money you have to save.

What is $15000 at 15 compounded annually for 5 years? ›

$28,500.00.

Is compound interest a good way to save money? ›

Compound interest is a powerful and simple way to increase the value of your savings, but you'll need the right savings account, money market account or investment tool, like a certificate of deposit.

Who benefits most from compound interest? ›

Who benefits from compound interest and earnings? Compound interest most often benefits consumers. Most deposit accounts, including savings accounts and CDs, pay compound interest.

Why does compound interest lead to more money? ›

This growth, calculated using exponential functions, occurs because the investment will generate earnings from both its initial principal and the accumulated earnings from preceding periods. Compounding, therefore, differs from linear growth, where only the principal earns interest each period.

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