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When the Knicks came back from a 29-point deficit this June, the largest comeback in NBA Finals history, I didn't see luck. I saw the power of compounding.
They stayed steady, focused on the play in front of them, and refused to rush what needed time. That's the same energy I want you to bring to your money.
If you've told yourself it's too late to get started or that you lost too much money with investing to try again, consider this: it's always the right time to begin a comeback.
If you save consistently and spread your money across a diversified mix of both small and large U.S. and international companies, compounding will likely grow your money to a number far bigger than you can imagine. What matters most is getting started and staying the course.
No one in Madison Square Garden that night believed a 29-point deficit could be erased (check out the faces of Timothée Chalamet and Ben Stiller who were sitting courtside). The comeback happened slowly, people didn't realize it was happening until it was well underway. That's exactly how compounding works too.
Click here to see compound interest in action.
Why It Feels Like Nothing Is Happening
I grew up in the Northeast, and as a kid I remember packing a small snowball and rolling it through the snow. For a long stretch, it barely seemed to grow but eventually it was large enough that it took four of us to lift it into a snowman.
Money compounds the same way. *For example, the S & P 500 Index has historically grown nearly twenty-three fold, on average, over any 30 calendar year period since 1926. Invest $44,000 today, stay the course, and your nest egg could be $1 million in three decades. And, while there are no guarantees of the future, since 1926, the worst 30-year return was 8.4%, the best was 13.6%, and the average was 11.01%.
If you’re experiencing a setback right now, a bad quarter in your business, a market dip, a plan that didn't work, this is often just "noise" rather than a signal to quit. For example, the people who reacted to the "noise" of the 2008 Financial Crisis and sold their investments, have less money now than those who remained calm.
The Knicks didn't panic when they were down by nearly thirty points. They got centered and played one possession at a time. The tell that you're about to turn a corner with your finances is the moment you take one small, steady action instead of staying frozen in the "story" of how far behind you are.
Your Next Small Step
You don't need to turn things around overnight. Put a small amount into savings. Say out loud to a friend that you're ready to grow your money.
Whatever your next step is, make it small enough that you'll actually do it. The first dollar in your investment or retirement account initiates the compounding; it's the step that invites the comeback of your finances and your life.
What's the smallest step you could take today?
*This data is from Robert Shiller's dataset, 1926-2023 and from Slickcharts for 2024-2025.
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