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ETFs · Index funds · Workplace funds · Stocks · Mana Credit · Compare halal products ↗ · Terms · PrivacyThe compound growth table that changes how you think about small amounts. Why starting early at £10 beats starting late at £100.
Most people wait. They tell themselves they'll start investing when they earn more, when the market is calmer, when life settles down. That waiting costs them tens of thousands of pounds.
Here's why. Compound growth doesn't just stack your returns: it stacks the returns on your returns. The longer money sits, the faster it grows. Starting small early beats starting big late, almost every time.
These projections assume 8% average annual growth, a conservative figure for a diversified global equity fund like ISWD over long periods.
| Monthly amount | After 10 years | After 20 years | After 30 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| £10/month | £1,839 | £5,890 | £15,003 |
| £25/month | £4,598 | £14,726 | £37,507 |
| £50/month | £9,195 | £29,451 | £75,015 |
| £100/month | £18,390 | £58,902 | £150,030 |
£10/month for 30 years produces £15,000. You only put in £3,600 of your own money. The rest is growth.
Person A starts investing £10/month at 25 and keeps going until 55. They invest for 30 years. Total in: £3,600. Total out: ~£15,000.
Person B waits until 45 and invests £100/month for 10 years. They invest 10 times as much per month. Total in: £12,000. Total out: ~£18,390.
Person B put in 3.3x more money and ends up with only slightly more. Time is the real variable. The earlier you start, the harder your money works.
There's something that doesn't show up in a table. When you have money in the market, you start paying attention. You check the news differently. You learn what "market down 3%" actually means for your portfolio (probably £0.30). You build intuition about investing by actually investing.
The habit of investing is more valuable than any specific amount. It keeps you in the game long enough for compound growth to do its work.
The single most effective investing habit: automate it. Set up a recurring investment in Trading 212 for the day after your payday. The money moves before you've had a chance to spend it.
You stop making the decision to invest every month. Instead, you only have to decide once, and then it just happens. That removes the biggest obstacle most people face: remembering to do it.
Start with £10 if that's what you can afford. Increase it when you can. But start now. The cost of waiting another year is real.
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