A brief lesson on the time value of money

As a brief lesson on “the time value of money,” I’ve paid over $175,000 for caregiving services for my mom, which has forced me to sell my beloved Apple stock (which I had owned since 2009), as well as some Shopify stock that has multiplied even more than Apple. As you can easily tell from this one image, that $175,000 — which I started paying in 2014 — would be worth well over $1,000,000 today.

So, as an example, if I could have kept that $175,000 in the market at the beginning of 2017, it would be worth at least 5x since that time. This is one example of why a certain amount of money now can be worth much more.

Conversely, if you just keep your money in the bank, with the cost of living increasing at about 4% per year, $1 in 2003 is worth about 50 cents today. (Using the “Rule of 72”.)

Photo D8
AAPL stock, 2016-2021