Get Lucky by Investing Your Time with Compound Interest

Posted by Amir Lehrer on February 14, 2008

Time is the Most Valuable Asset

The most valuable asset in the world is time. Time is the only asset in the world that is absolutely finite and once you lose some, you will never get it back. Time can be used to acquire other assets such as information which can lead to all kinds of monetary assets.

Money can be Acquired, Time Cannot

Money is great to have but money comes and goes and if you know how to make money, chances are that you will make much more than you lose. You can make money with time but you can never make more time.

Compound Interest is One of the Wonders of the World

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”. Most people only consciously apply compound interest to money. They look for the best savings account or investment that will give them the most compound interest, dump their money in and wait for it to grow.

You have the option not to save money but to use it as it comes in. You can live paycheck to paycheck and never put money away. In fact, most of the world unfortunately does this. They then wake up 20 years down the line and try and figure out where all their money went and why are they still broke.

If you look at the big picture monetarily and see yourself 20 years down the line, it is a no-brainer to start saving for your future. The only question is, why stop there? You can get compound interest on a lot more than just money.

Get Compound Interest on Your Time

Just like with money, you have a choice to spend it or save it, you have almost the same option with time. The difference between money and time is that money you either spend or save and time you either use productively or you waste. Now, if you look at the big picture with time, you will realize that it is more important than money and you will start saving it up or using it towards a goal.

The end result of compound interest on time is the accomplishment of a goal. To use time productively, you must have a goal that you are working towards. Without a goal, you have no direction and will probably not invest your time wisely. Just like when you are looking for the best savings account or investment for money, you must find the best investment for your time to get the best result.

The great thing about time is that it can be invested towards whatever is most important to you. It could be your family, friends, health, your business or your hobbies. You just have to set your goals and work towards them. The longer range your goal is, the more compound interest you can get.

If you live day to day, you will do what is important for today but you will not be preparing yourself for years down the line. If you plan ahead and invest time into your goals, you will be building your future. Just think of prerequisites in school. To graduate, you need certain courses but to take those courses, you need their prerequisites. When you go to school, they pretty much map out your 4 year goal. It is to graduate from your program. Once you enter the real world, no one will tell you what you are going to need 4 years or longer down the line. You need to set your own goals and work towards them yourself.

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