Why compounding doesnt deliver results for most

All the material written on the power of compounding talks about how a hundred or thousand bucks invested continuously month on month over a period of time turns into a million bucks. The power of compounding is a simple yet a very powerful concept which converts a small amount into a large amount. However, if this was so simple there should have been lots of millionaires and billionaires who became rich through the power of compounding. Something seems to be amiss.


The concept of compounding it not only simple and powerful it is also a universal truth. For the power of compounding to deliver the results for us there are two very important variables which get missed out. The variables are:

1. Discipline: Remember, all the examples on the power of compounding  say that one has to keep saving a hundred bucks month on month for 20, 25, 30 years. This requires discipline and since discipline is a quuality not found in abundance in many of us, the power of compounding does not deliver the stated results. 
2. Patience: For the power of compounding to deliver results of million bucks we are talking about a time frame of two or three decades. Again, patience is not a quality that we all possess in abundance.

How to make the power of compounding work for us

Most of us don't become become seriously rich because we are at times either not disciplined or patient or both.