The same $250 a month looks unremarkable for a decade and then suddenly dominates the chart. Here is why compounding behaves that way.
A boring middle and a wild end
If you chart $250/month for 20 years at 7%, the line looks almost linear for the first decade. Then it bends upward in a way that feels almost rude — and that bend is the real product of compounding.
The math is friendlier than it sounds
Each month you earn return on every dollar you have ever put in, including the returns from earlier months. The further out you are, the more of your balance is returns rather than contributions.