We all yearn to have enough money to live comfortable lives: to buy the things we want and go on holidays we’ve long dreamed of. This leads to the age-old question: how do I earn money fast? Or better yet – how can I double my money?

The short answer is that get-rich-quick ventures like internet ‘investment opportunities’ and pyramid schemes are mostly not as rewarding as they sound and can even result in the loss of your savings. Not the greatest prospect, right?

Sensible saving and investment grows your money faster

Saving is a good starting point. You could stash some money in a coffee can at the back of your cupboard, but it will earn no interest there, so the amount won’t grow. Because of inflation, you’ll find that your money will lose value over time and buy less.

Investing in a savings scheme is a better option, as you will earn a set interest rate over time. This helps offset the effects of inflation. Simply put: if the interest rate you’re earning is equal to the rate of inflation, your money holds its value. But as soon as your interest rate is higher than the inflation rate, your money is growing in real terms.

For your investment to earn the best possible interest and for that interest to compound, your investment needs to stay untouched

Financially savvy people have a trick up their sleeves to help them grow their savings and investments at an almost magical rate. It’s called compound interest. In simple terms, it enables you to earn interest upon interest.

Let’s say you decide to invest R1,000. At a 5% interest rate, your money will grow to R1,050 within 12 months. During the next 12 months, you’ll earn interest on the increased amount. Basically, you’ll be earning interest on your original R1,000 plus the R50 you earned during the previous year. Over time, if you don’t withdraw money from your investment, constantly earning interest on your interest increases your investment significantly.

Maximise your compound interest in 4 steps

• Add more: A single deposit will kickstart the growth of your money through compounding. Adding extra money every month will speed up the growth significantly – this is where a fixed-deposit account is useful.
  
  
• Get started: Time waits for no one. The growth effect of compound interest is astonishing over time, so start saving as soon as you’re able to. A fixed-deposit account attracts decent interest, and is a painless way to make sure you to save the same amount every month.
  
  
• Give less to the government: you are allowed by law to save a specified amount per year tax-free. In the 2021 tax year, that limit was R36,000 – so you can deposit up to R3,000 per month in a tax-free savings account.
  
  
• Look, but don’t touch: For your investment to earn the best possible interest and for that interest to compound, your investment needs to stay untouched. In the long run, you’ll thank yourself for being patient.

We all want to have enough money to make us happy, but building that investment the slow and steady way beats any number of get-rich-quick schemes.