Nicole Lapin

You're putting money in your 401k, your Roth IRA, an index fund, and nothing feels like it's happening.

You start to question everything.

Like, is this even working?

Am I doing something wrong?

Should I be farther along by now?

So let me show you what's happening beneath the surface and why you do need to stick with it.

Let's say you invest $1,000 a month and your investments have a 10% average annual rate of return.

That's the historic average of the US stock market.

To get to your first 100K, it's going to take a little over six years.

But then to go from 100K to 200K, it takes a lot less time, about three years and 10 months.

The more money you have, the more money you make.

This is how compound interest works.

And so let's fast forward to get from 900K to a million bucks.

The acceleration of wealth becomes chef's kiss.

It will only take you around 12 months, just one year for your investment to grow from 900K to a million bucks with that same monthly investment and the same rate of return.

I know the initial slog of investing can feel like the power of compounding is not working for you.

But it is.

It just picks up speed later after that 100K mark because of the beautiful, amazing force of compound interest.

So let's start there.

I'm going to assume we're working with the average US salary, which is around 64K.