“I need a lot of money to start.”

This is the most common reason people give me for not investing. “When I have 100,000 pounds, then I’ll start.” The problem is that the day you have 100,000 pounds lying around rarely comes. Money that isn’t given a job tends to get spent.

The truth is simpler: investing is not something you do once you’re rich. It’s one of the ways people get there.

Time does more work than the amount

When your money earns a return, and that return earns a return of its own, growth speeds up over the years. This is compounding, and its most important ingredient is time, not the size of your first deposit.

Here’s an illustration. Say you put away 1,000 pounds every month, and it earns about 1% a month (roughly 12.7% a year):

Same 1,000 pounds a month. The only difference is time. That’s why waiting to “start properly” is so expensive.

These figures are before inflation, which in Egypt eats into the value of money every year. That’s exactly why cash sitting still loses ground, and why your money needs to grow faster than prices. You can try your own numbers in grow..

What starting small looks like

• Build a small safety cushion first. Keep a few months of essential expenses somewhere safe and easy to reach, so an emergency doesn’t force you to sell your investments at a bad time.
• Pick an amount you won’t miss. Even 500 or 1,000 pounds a month is a real start. You can raise it later.
• Pay yourself first. Move the money on payday, before you spend, not at the end of the month with whatever is left.
• Make it automatic. A standing transfer removes the monthly decision, and the decision is where most people give up.
• Increase it when your income grows. A raise is the easiest moment to invest more, before your lifestyle catches up.

The habit is the real asset

Your first year of investing won’t make you rich. What it gives you is the habit: the routine, the confidence, and the experience of seeing your money work. People who start with a small amount and keep going almost always end up ahead of people who wait for the perfect moment.

Don’t wait until you have a lot of money to start. Start, and let time help you build it.