The IT Engineer Who Discovered the Magic of Compounding

Compounding is nature's version of recursive functions - the real magic happens in the last iterations.

6/7/20251 min read

green and white ceramic figurine
green and white ceramic figurine

Meet Rahul Sharma, 28, Bengaluru-based Software Developer

The Discovery (2024)

While debugging code late night, Rahul stumbled upon an investing truth:

His ₹10L Investment at 15% CAGR:

  • Years 0-5: ₹10L → ₹20L (Double)

  • Years 6-10: ₹20L → ₹40L (Double again)

  • Years 11-15: ₹40L → ₹80L

  • Years 16-20: ₹80L → ₹1.6Cr

The Aha Moment:

  • First 15 years: ₹70L gain

  • Last 5 years: ₹80L gain (More than entire first 15 years!)

Why This Shocked Him

1️⃣ Tech Salary Parallel:

  • Like his ₹15L salary becoming ₹30L in 5 years

  • But then ₹30L → ₹60L in next 5 feels impossible

2️⃣ The Patient Programmer's Edge:
"Compiling code takes minutes. Compounding wealth takes years - but both follow exponential curves."

3️⃣ His Old Mistake:
Used to chase ₹50k bonuses instead of focusing on 15% SIPs

Action Plan:

  • Increased SIP from ₹20k → ₹30k/month

  • Stopped checking portfolio weekly

  • Bookmarked: "The last 5 years do the heavy lifting"

The Lesson for Techies

"Compounding is nature's version of recursive functions - the real magic happens in the last iterations."

3 Debugging Tips for Wealth:

  1. Don't interrupt the loop (Stay invested)

  2. Increase memory allocation (Boost SIPs with hikes)

  3. Ignore compile-time warnings (Market noise)

Try This:
Your Current Investment × 2^(Years/5) = Future Value