laugh, it's just money

I remember the first time I learned about compounding. Compoun-what? My 2006 Oxford English Dictionary says that "compound" means "a thing composed of two or more separate elements." Though not directly applicable at all here, it's kind of true. Money compounds when it grows on itself - when money earns interest, then earns interest on that interest (or interest+principal+growth together = big bucks). In other words, if you invest $100 when you are 20, and earn somewhere betw