Vine
❄️
Start here

Lesson 3 · Written for kid, teen, and little

Compound interest

Drag the sliders to see how time builds wealth.

The idea

Here's how compounding works: when your money earns a return and you keep that return invested, it can earn more too. With a positive return over many years, it can grow like a snowball. Starting earlier gives compounding more time to work, but investments can lose value and growth is not guaranteed. ❄️

A

Words to know

2

Compound interest

When your money earns money, and then your earnings start earning too — growth that snowballs over time.

Annual return

The percentage gain or loss on an investment over one year. A positive return increases value; a negative return reduces it.

Try it — no accountPlay with the numbers

Drag the sliders to see compound interest in action. Try investing $30 for 30 years — see the snowball.

Future value

$6,197

at 10% a year

Contributions

$3,600

Now+10 years

Compounding turns 1.7× your contributions into this value.

Real markets rise and fall — this assumes the same return every year, before inflation. It is an estimate, not a promise.

Monthly contribution

$30

Years

10 yrs

Increase Years beyond its starting setting until the projected value is at least 1.5 times your contributions.

Drag the Years slider higher to finish — that is where compounding does its work.

In the full lesson

  1. 1Play with the numbers

Vine has 107 lessons like this one, each written three ways so a 7-year-old and a 17-year-old both get a version that fits.

Free to use

The practice portfolio is open.

Start practicing

More in Start here