Taste The Compounding

Someone just sent me this cute video using Skittles to demonstrate the power of compound interest.

I've seen so many videos like this over the years. It's like watching a rom-com Christmas movie. You know how it ends but you enjoy the stretch where they almost don't make it home in time for dinner.

But a funny thing happened when I actually settled in to watch this (one-minute, twenty-five-second) video.

First of all, I know the punchline. Compounding works! I know this.

Second, I love this stuff. I love the parabolic curve. I love the snowball rolling down the hill. I love the bunnies multiplying.

Third, I had the time. Ninety-five seconds of my life.

And yet, I found myself impatiently tapping my foot, checking my texts, glancing around the room, impatient for it to get going.

Eventually, I did what my teenagers would have done, I dragged the time bar forward to the end to see the part where the compounding jar filled up.

So impatient.

Again, I know how compounding works.

Albert Einstein reportedly called it "the eighth wonder of the world."

Warren Buffett has earned 99% of his wealth after his 65th birthday.

How?

When your $145 billion portfolio earns 10%, that's a $14.5 billion return in one year.

(His most recent letter to investors where he shows on p. 15 his compounded annual gain 1965-2024 is 10.4%).

I've marveled at how if Ben Franklin's parents had put $1 in a savings account earning 1% the day he was born, it would be worth $24 today. But if they'd invested that same dollar? Roughly $46 billion.

It works. We know.

We get it. Compounding is magical.

But what that video reminded me—ironically, by boring me—is why it's so hard to appreciate:
because the magic looks dull for a very long time.

So why did I fast forward the video?
Because I wanted the results without sitting through the process.

And that's exactly what makes compounding so hard to grasp emotionally, especially when you're young. You can't see the magic until decades later.

Every

Skittle

Counts

Every dollar invested. Every habit repeated. Every decision to stay the course when nothing seems to be happening.

The magic isn't in the final dump of candy at year 30. It's in the quiet years when you keep showing up.

Because the payoff is coming. You just have to let time do this thing.