So, I am a mid-level professional. Individual contributor in a large company. Quiet cog in a big corporate wheel based in a VHCOL. My income reflects that. On average in the past 3 years, my gross (pre-tax) income has been $20k per month. I don’t get company stock (not senior enough for that) - just cash salary and a bonus.
My spouse is a similar cog in another big corporate wheel, with average monthly gross income of $16k. Similar to me, cash salary only, not even bonus. And no stock
Together, we have been earning $36k per month. Which is great, but that’s before taxes in a VHCOL. So, it’s not that great - but it does allow us to steadily save and invest about $10-11k per month. We just buy index funds - mostly S&P500 and some QQQ.
So, now comes the power of compounding. 3 years ago in Oct 2022, our portfolio was $1.55M. Now in Sep 2025, it is $4.15M.
That’s an increase of $2.6M in 35 months, or almost $75k per month on average.
Thanks to compounding, our wealth is growing at more than 2x our gross pre tax income!
$11k of that is from our monthly contributions, $60k+ per month comes from compounding!
Call it humble brag, throw shade on me whatever. I know markets have done really well in the past 35 months.
But the point of my post is that compounding really works, and I am beginning to experience it first hand now.
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