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Conference nyoss1::market_investing

Title:Market Investing
Moderator:2155::michaud
Created:Thu Jan 23 1992
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1060
Total number of notes:10477

927.0. "rule of 72" by DECWET::JO (Mary had a little lamb, with mint jelly. Dot Warner) Tue Oct 17 1995 17:37

    
    in the discussion with the WMA representative, he told us of the
    "rule of 72".  has anyone heard about this?
    
    this is what we were told.  the rule of 72 says that if you
    take the number 72 and divide it by the percentage of growth
    you will get the number of years it will take to double your money.
    
    for example
    
    for an investment earning 6%
    
    72 / 6 = 12
    
    if i invested $1000 in a vehicle that will give me 6%, it will
    take 12 years before my thousand dollar investment grows to $2000.
    
    for an investment earning 12%
    
    72 / 12 = 6
    
    if i invested $1000 in a vehicle that will give me 12%, it will
    take 6 years before my thousand dollar investment grows to $2000.
    
    so to illustrate the difference in a table, each investment
    starting at $1000
    
    		6%				12%
    
    year 1      1,000				1,000
    year 6					2,000
    year 12	2,000				4,000
    year 18					8,000
    year 24	4,000				16,000
    
    so after 24 years ( i think i did this right ) you see the 
    difference between the higher percent investment.  but this we
    already know.  besides this does not take into account what
    changes might happen through the years.
    
    anyway has anyone heard of this rule before?
    
    jo
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927.1"investing" is hardSOLVIT::CHENTue Oct 17 1995 18:206
    Yes. And you are right. Welcome to the magical power of compounding! 
    
    Now, trying to select THE RIGHT "vehicle" to get you where you want to
    go is a much harder task.  :-)
    
    Mike
927.2rule 72 worksMSBCS::HURLEYTue Oct 17 1995 18:244
    yup the ol rule 72 is a quick way to get an idea of how much money you
    can save over a time/% return. Lots of software out there that can
    break it down to the Penney if you want though. Rule of 72 does not
    take into  consideration taxes and inflation though. 
927.3thanks!DECWET::JOMary had a little lamb, with mint jelly. Dot WarnerTue Oct 17 1995 21:3811
    thanks!  it made sense to me, just wanted to make sure
    it wasn't something he made up.
    
    without the rule anyhow it makes sense that a vehicle with a higher
    percent of return would yield more.  it's just makes it a little more
    concrete as to how such a vehicle would perform, if you found one.
    
    so the goal then is to find ones that will come close to delivering
    that kind of performance for your money.
    
    jo
927.4Its a great rule to live byMIMS::KINSER_JTue Oct 17 1995 22:016
    This is also why companies like PFS and WMA exist. They talk to
    alot of people who don't know anything about the power of compound
    interest. Once they show this to people who have not seen it, it really
    makes people want to start saving their money for the future.
    
    Jeff
927.5thank youDECWET::JOMary had a little lamb, with mint jelly. Dot WarnerWed Oct 18 1995 15:517
    thank you all for your responses.
    
    we certainly learned a lesson there.  it makes sense that a high
    interest vehicle will yield more but presented that way, it's
    concrete and eye-popping reality.
    
    jo
927.6MSBCS::HURLEYWed Oct 18 1995 16:221
    and if you can tax defer your investments it multiplies even quicker..
927.7The OTHER ruleSOLVIT::CHENWed Oct 18 1995 18:325
    re: Mary,
    
    Higher return generally also translate into higher risk and higher
    volatility. Make sure you are taking on the level of risk that you are
    comfortable with.
927.8Take inflation into accountIROCZ::REUTHERFri Oct 27 1995 16:2317
    As .2 mentioned, you need to consider inflation.  I believe the
    rule of 72 can also be used to determine the effect of inflation as
    well.  If you assume 4% inflation, then 72/4 = 18, says that your money 
    will half its buying power in 18 years.  Is this a correct use of this 
    rule?  If this is correct, than in .0 when you say your 1k investment goes
    to 8k in 18 years means that it really would have the buying power of 4k.
    
    So, it would seem that a better equation for the rule would be:
    
    		72/(return rate - inflation rate)
    
    In your example this would be:
    
    		72/(12-4) = 9 years to double your buying power
    
    
    Tom
927.9FX28PM::SMITHPWritten but not readFri Oct 27 1995 18:276
    My college finance professor also told us about the '7' rule. 
    
    If you don't double your money every 7 years (10% per year) you 
    aren't making money.
    
    
927.10VAXCPU::michaudJeff Michaud - ObjectBrokerFri Oct 27 1995 22:129
> If you don't double your money every 7 years (10% per year) you 
> aren't making money.

	Actually it's about 9.1% per year due to compounding :-)

	Of course once again inflation is the big factor.  9-10% a
	year will actually lose you money when we have double digit
	inflation (I remember earning 15% just in a money market
	account because inflation was in the double digits) ....