"Time is money" undersells it — in investing, time doesn't just save money, it actively creates it, as the old story of doubling grains of rice on a chessboard makes vivid.
Tejas Shah
Proprietor of Silicon One and Silicon Systems, AMFI-registered Mutual Fund Distributor since 2004, based in Vadodara.
"Time is money" is a familiar saying, but in investing, it understates the point — time doesn't just save money, time creates money. Understanding this properly can make you meaningfully richer, not just in theory but in practice.
The Persian emperor and the chessboard
As the old story goes, a Persian emperor, having lost a bet, told a court member to ask for anything. The court member asked only for rice — 1 grain on the first square of a chessboard, doubled on each subsequent square. The emperor agreed, thinking it a modest request. By the 14th square it was already 2,048 grains; by the 28th, the numbers had become staggering — a vivid illustration of how compounding starts small and unremarkable, then accelerates dramatically.
Do you still want to wait?
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