Einstein and the magic of compounding

It is like a snowball rolling down a hill, getting bigger and bigger, year after year after year. You have to leave it in your account to allow the compounding effect to gather momentum. The good news is that you can feel the power of compound interest simply by paying money into a savings account and patiently letting it grow in value, year after year.

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Einstein might have more to offer today’s thinking saver than just compound interest. You may not have as much money as Rockefeller, but you can what is variable cost learn why variable costs are important to a business share in his pleasure (hopefully, you will also find other ways of having fun). In the US, Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend every year for the past 56 years. Other familiar US names with a consistent track record of annual dividend rises include Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson (both 49 years), Colgate-Palmolive (48 years), Chubb Corp (46 years) and PepsiCo (39 years). He famously called compound interest “the most powerful force in the universe” and he certainly had a point.

Einstein and the magic of compounding

Over 12 months, 62 per cent of your investment returns are driven by market movements, according to a study by Societe Generale, with the remaining 38 per cent coming from dividends. Over five years, just 18 per cent of your total return comes from share price growth, with dividends making up the rest. In the long run, it is the compounding effect of reinvesting dividends that really makes you rich.

1. I lived on a ranch in California, and I was hard put to find the ladder whereby to climb.
2. While it is almost universally agreed that Einstein did not in fact call compound interest the eighth wonder of the world, that does not detract from the criticality of the concept to successful investing.
3. There is another advantage to investing in companies with a strong dividend policy, Mr Reeve says.
4. The so called “snowball effect” shows that small actions continued over the long term can have large impacts.

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As it travels down the hill, the snowball continually picks up more snow. The so called “snowball effect” shows that small actions continued over the long term can have large impacts. QI hypothesizes that an anonymous advertising copywriter initiated the idea that compound interest was the world’s greatest invention or man’s greatest invention.

Over the years it has been reassigned to famous people to make the comment sound more impressive and to encourage individuals to open bank accounts or purchase interest-bearing securities. This economic philosophy doesn’t have a direct relationship with money management, but I thought it was interesting to note. Because of individual freedom, cherished by Einstein, we are able to build wealth for ourselves. In some countries, if our parents were poor servants, we’d be poor servants, too, without any economic mobility.

Fans are invested in their heroes; to admit their guru isn’t perfect is to admit they wasted time, money, and energy. A superfan perceives an attack on Robert Kioysaki’s business practices or a criticism of his sales techniques as an attack on the man and his following. A criticism of Dave Ramsey’s approach to financial advice is dismissed without consideration; after all, he’s the successful author.

Manage your portfolio carefully to ensure the taxman isn’t taking a cut of your annual dividend income. This is less of a problem if you hold your money offshore, but you may need to seek tax advice. A stock that yields 6 per cent and raises its dividend by 5 per cent a year will double your money in just 12 years from income alone, according to the investment website, Motley Fool. A. Michael Lipper, president of Lipper Analytical Securities Corp., quotes Albert Einstein’s remark that “The eighth wonder of the world is compound interest.” If you can invest at a sure 7 percent return, your money will double in 10 years. If you are patient, and stick with your investments over time, you will almost always come out ahead. Albert Einstein isn’t the only famous person to appreciate the power of compounding.