Compounding is powerful — and easy to over-promise
A modest per-period edge reaches big multiples faster than intuition suggests, which is the seductive maths behind “just 2% a day.” This tool shows the timeline honestly, and why steady returns are the hard part. Model a full lumpy equity curve on the futures compounding calculator.
Deadline math for a profit target
"Turn $5k into $20k" is a wish; "at what monthly return, in how many months" is a plan you can audit. The compounding formula: months = log(target ÷ start) ÷ log(1 + monthly return). $5k → $20k at 5% monthly is 28.4 months. At 10% monthly, 14.5. At the 1–3% that sustainable strategies actually deliver, 47 to 140 months.
Running it backwards exposes fantasy targets instantly: hitting 4× in six months requires 26% monthly compounded — a return that, sustained, would compound $5k past $1M inside three years. Nobody does that; therefore the plan's premise is broken, and it's better to learn that from logarithms than from the account.
The honest use: set the timeline from a defensible return (2–4% monthly is ambitious-but-real for an edge that exists), then judge whether the goal justifies the years. Most goals shrink when priced in time — which is the calculator doing its job, not failing at it.