FYI – Robbins’ exact line was “Compound interest is such a powerful tool that Albert Einstein once called it the most important invention in all of human history.” In personal finance articles I frequently find quotes injected to attribute some further relevance to one’s position. There is one force in the universe more powerful than compound interest. In the US, Procter & Gamble has increased its dividend every year for the past 56 years. Other familiar US names with a consistent track record of annual dividend rises include Coca-Cola and Johnson & Johnson (both 49 years), Colgate-Palmolive (48 years), Chubb Corp (46 years) and PepsiCo (39 years). This compounding process repeats itself year after year, which means you earn interest upon interest upon interest.
Despite his initial problems with the regimented style of school, Einstein strongly valued the cognitive skills he gained from his later studies. He cited a good college education with providing the type of cognitive skills that allows people to think for themselves and imagine possibilities that have never been imagined. “The value of a college education is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think,” Einstein was quoted in the New York Times in 1921.
Did Albert Einstein declare compound interest to be ‘the most powerful force in the universe’?
If you are patient, and stick with your investments over time, you will almost always come out ahead. Being thankful for these opportunities is certainly one reason not to throw it away by making bad decisions with money. It may be difficult, but financial independence is within reach for anyone who wants it although there can be unavoidable external situations making it more difficult or impossible for some. But for at least those reading Consumerism Commentary, there should be enough opportunity to move towards financial independence. Albert Einstein definitely leaned towards the socialist end of the economic spectrum, but he always emphasized the important of individual freedom, democracy, and personal liberty.
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Compound interest has essentially tripled (x2.65) what are source documents in accounting your investment (principal). However, Albert Einstein certainly had an opinion on the matter. But it is not particularly easy for one to climb up out of the working class—especially if he is handicapped by the possession of ideals and illusions. I lived on a ranch in California, and I was hard put to find the ladder whereby to climb.
- He loved the idea that he and others could question authority without fear of reprisal.
- Albert Einstein, the theoretical physicist, is best known for discovering the law of relativity, but he clearly knew a thing or two about investing as well.
- For John D Rockefeller, the late American industrialist, it made life worth living.
- The young Einstein had no interest in this type of training to blindly worship authority.
But if you allowed the interest to compound, your savings would grow to more than $18,000. And when savings rates finally revive from today’s miserable lows, the effect will be even more powerful. He famously called compound interest “the most powerful force in the universe” and he certainly had a point.
Compound Interest Is Man’s Greatest Invention
In 1916 a character in an advertisement in a California newspaper called “compound interest” the “greatest invention the world has ever produced”. He might have; the sentiment matches what seems to be this particular genius’s sense of humor. His breakthrough in the understanding of the physical universe came from his ability to imagine how the world might work, and then ask himself questions and solve problems to determine which theories could be tested. For the most part, he let other scientists worry about the testing part, giving himself room for his thoughts to consider the world in ways no one had considered it previously. It seems Einstein would not be too happy with the way people revere the most popular financial gurus. Fans of gurus will continue to stand up for their heroes despite displays of lack of character and lack of sense.
Capitalism can be destructive to society
I early inquired the rate of interest on invested money, and worried my child’s brain into an understanding of the virtues and excellencies of that remarkable invention of man, compound interest. If Columbus had of placed one single dollar out at 6% interest compounded annually with instructions to pay the proceeds to you today, you would have over Ten Billion Dollars coming to you. Compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe. Social security is squarely based on what has been called the eighth wonder of the world—compound interest. Over the years, I’ve read Einstein quoted as saying that ‘compound interest was one of man’s greatest inventions’, or other variations on this theme.
Sometimes a comment is attributed to a famous individual to increase the prestige and believability of the comment. Also, a quotation from a famous person is often considered more interesting and entertaining. QI hypothesizes that the statement was crafted by an unknown advertising copy writer. Over the years it has been reassigned to famous people to make the comment sound more impressive and to encourage individuals to open bank accounts or purchase interest-bearing securities. Authority figures, like professors who lecture without open discussion and politicians, don’t always deserve to be trusted. And from a consumer perspective, we have to resist the temptation to consider salespeople authority figures or experts.