When people hear the words investing or financial freedom, they often think they need thousands of dollars to get started.

You don't.

You need to understand something much more important:

Time and compounding can do a lot of the heavy lifting.

And if you're young, time may be your greatest financial advantage.

If you're older and haven't started yet, don't panic.

You haven't missed your opportunity.

But you do need to start.

If you've spent any time learning about investing, you've probably heard the name Warren Buffett.

Buffett is widely regarded as one of the greatest investors in history.

But what's interesting about his story isn't simply how much money he made.

It's how early he started.

Buffett bought his first stock when he was just 11 years old.

He was already thinking about businesses, money, and investing while most kids were thinking about baseball and going outside.

By the time he was a teenager, he was already finding ways to make money.

He delivered newspapers.

He sold things.

He saved.

And he invested.

That early start gave Buffett something that cannot be purchased later:

time.

Buffett didn't discover some magical investment that guaranteed enormous returns.

His philosophy has generally been remarkably simple:

Buy good businesses at reasonable prices.

Own them for a long time.

Let the businesses grow.

Reinvest.

Avoid unnecessary speculation.

And don't panic every time the market falls.

That last part is particularly important.

Investing isn't about being right every day.

It's about allowing good investments enough time to work.

Berkshire Hathaway's historical results illustrate just how powerful this can be. From 1965 through 2025, Berkshire reported a compounded annual gain of 19.7%, compared with 10.5% for the S&P 500 including dividends.

Those numbers are extraordinary.

But they're also a reminder of something else:

Compounding needs time.

Here's the easiest way I can explain it.

Imagine you invest $10,000.

You earn 8%.

Now you have $10,800.

The following year, you aren't earning 8% on just the original $10,000.

You're earning it on the $10,800.

Then the next year, you're earning returns on the larger amount again.

Your money begins making money.

Then that money makes money.

Then that money makes money.

Eventually, the growth can become much larger than the amount you originally contributed.

That's compound growth.

Let's make this real.

Suppose two people invest $500 per month and hypothetically earn an average 8% annual return.

These are illustrations—not guarantees of future investment performance.

Starts at age 25.

Invests $500 every month until age 65.

Total contributions:

$240,000

Approximate ending value at 8%:

$1.63 million

Starts at age 45.

Invests $500 every month until age 65.

Total contributions:

$120,000

Approximate ending value at 8%:

$295,000

Look at the difference.

The first investor contributed twice as much money.

But the bigger difference is that their money had 20 additional years to compound.

That's the power of starting early.

This is where I want to make something very clear.

Don't use your age as an excuse not to start.

Maybe you should have started at 20.

Maybe you should have started at 30.

Maybe you didn't know anything about investing until today.

It doesn't matter.

You can't invest yesterday.

You can only invest today.

And starting late is still infinitely better than never starting.

If you're starting later in life, your strategy may need to change.

You have less time for compounding, which means you may need to focus more heavily on the things you can control.

If you can't give yourself 30 or 40 years of compounding, you may need to invest more money each month.

Someone investing $500 per month has a very different outcome from someone investing $1,500.

The more capital you consistently put to work, the more powerful compounding becomes.

This is where people can get themselves into trouble.

Someone who starts investing at 50 may feel like they need to make up for lost time.

That's when risky bets, excessive leverage, options trading, meme stocks, and other speculation can become tempting.

Don't confuse catching up with gambling.

Fees may look small.

A fraction of a percent doesn't sound like much.

But over decades, fees can take a meaningful amount of money away from your portfolio.

Know what you're paying.

Depending on your circumstances, accounts such as a 401(k), IRA, or Roth IRA can provide significant tax advantages.

If your employer offers a retirement-plan match, understand the rules.

Free money is worth paying attention to.

Here's something investors sometimes forget:

You can only cut expenses so far.

But there isn't necessarily a ceiling on how much you can earn.

Learn a skill.

Start a business.

Take overtime.

Change careers.

Negotiate your salary.

Create another income stream.

Then take some of that additional income and invest it.

Increasing the amount of money you can consistently invest can be just as important as finding a slightly better return.

This is perhaps the most important part.

You don't have to identify the next Apple.

You don't have to spend six hours every night studying financial statements.

You don't have to become a professional stock picker.

For many people, a simple diversified portfolio of low-cost index funds or ETFs can provide a straightforward way to participate in the growth of the stock market.

One commonly used example is an S&P 500 index fund.

The goal isn't necessarily to beat everyone else.

The goal is to build wealth consistently.

This distinction matters.

You buy an asset because you believe it can produce value over time.

You understand what you're buying.

You have a plan.

You think in years and decades.

You're primarily hoping someone else will pay more than you paid.

You're chasing a quick return.

You're relying heavily on luck or short-term price movements.

There is risk in investing.

But investing doesn't have to mean gambling.

You can spend years looking for the perfect investment.

The perfect stock.

The perfect entry point.

The perfect market.

The perfect interest rate.

The perfect time.

And while you're waiting...

Your money is sitting on the sidelines.

There is no perfect time to begin.

Markets go up.

Markets go down.

Recessions happen.

Crashes happen.

Bull markets happen.

Nobody knows exactly what the market will do next.

But history has shown that businesses can continue to grow and compound wealth over very long periods.

Perhaps the greatest lesson from Warren Buffett isn't which stocks he bought.

It's his patience.

Buffett started incredibly young.

He continued investing for decades.

He reinvested.

He avoided constantly chasing the next hot thing.

And he allowed compounding to work.

Berkshire's own shareholder materials describe Buffett's approach in terms of patience, discipline, and waiting for opportunities rather than constantly swinging at every possible investment.

That's something almost anyone can learn from.

If you're 20:

Start.

If you're 30:

Start.

If you're 40:

Start.

If you're 50:

Start.

If you're 60:

Start.

You may not be able to recreate the exact results you would have had if you'd started decades earlier.

That's okay.

The goal isn't to go backward.

The goal is to make your financial future better than it would have been otherwise.

Even if you can't invest thousands of dollars every month, begin with what you can.

$50.

$100.

$250.

$500.

Then increase it when your income increases.

Because the first investment isn't really about the money.

It's about developing the habit.

This week, do three things:

1. Find out exactly where your money is going.

Look at your income, expenses, debt, savings, and investments.

2. Open or review your investment accounts.

Know what you actually own.

3. Automate something.

Even if it's a small amount.

Make investing happen automatically every payday.

Because the easiest money to invest is the money you never have the opportunity to spend.

Warren Buffett started investing when he was 11.

Most of us didn't.

And that's okay.

The past is already written.

What matters is what you do with the years you have left.

If you start early, time becomes your advantage.

If you start late, consistency, savings, income, and discipline become even more important.

You don't need to become Warren Buffett.

You don't need to get rich overnight.

You simply need to start putting your money to work and give yourself as much time as possible.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.

The second-best time is today.

The Wellness of Men Team

Our goal is simple: help men become stronger in every area of life—physically, mentally, and financially.

Financial freedom doesn't happen overnight.

It is built one decision, one dollar, and one day at a time.

If you’re optimizing for growth, you need ecomm tactics that actually work. Not mushy strategies.

Go-to-Millions is the ecommerce growth newsletter from Ari Murray, packed with tactical insights, smart creative, and marketing that drives revenue.

Every issue is built for operators: clear, punchy, and grounded in what’s working, from product strategy to paid media to conversion lifts.

Subscribe for free and get your next growth unlock delivered weekly.

Sign up now