A room filled with curiosity and a flood of questions on a lazy afternoon – that’s how I would describe the investor awareness session I conducted for the staff of LSEG Data & Analytics some time back.
During such sessions, I usually ask the audience one simple but revealing question:
“If you had to share one mistake, regret, or financial pain point from your life, what would it be?”
The responses are always honest. And often uncomfortable.
- Not closing a loan early.
- Trying to time the markets.
- Buying unsuitable financial products.
All valid regrets.
But the most common answer, by far, is almost always the same:
“I wish I had started investing earlier.”
Whether they are in their 40s or even 50s, many carry this quiet regret. Not because they didn’t earn enough. Not because they made terrible mistakes. But because they underestimated one simple force – COMPOUNDING.
Compounding does not look dramatic in the early years. It feels slow. Almost boring. But give it time, and it becomes unstoppable. The real magic isn’t in finding the “best” product or timing the market perfectly. It lies in starting early and staying consistent.
You can recover from wrong products.
You can correct asset allocation mistakes.
You can restructure loans.
But you cannot buy back time.
Every wealthy person you listen to will tell you a version of the same truth: there is no secret recipe to wealth creation. It is boringly simple and universally applicable.
Start early.
Stay invested.
Let compounding do its job.
The earlier you begin, the less you need to be perfect.
And that is perhaps the most comforting lesson of all.