🟣🟢 Warren Buffett and Spring Blossom

Happy Sunday…👋

It’s one of my favourite times of year.

The light mornings and the days stretching out. The hedgerows bursting into life. Nature seems to have hit ‘refresh’.

This is also the season when we first fell for our house. To be honest, we were pretty much sold the moment we drove down the tree-lined avenue.

And once we stepped into the garden, that was it. The house itself was almost an after thought…

That was 33 years ago, and next week, we’ll be celebrating that anniversary. I’ve no idea where the time’s gone, but when I look back, I can see how much has changed.

Not in dramatic leaps, but through the slow layering of one season after another.

A little bit here, a little bit there… and suddenly, three decades have flown by.

Over the weekend, Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and long-time CEO of Berkshire Hathaway announced he’ll be stepping down at the end of this year.

He’s 94. It’s the end of an era, not just for the investment world, but for anyone who’s ever admired what can be achieved through patience, consistency and long-term thinking.

Buffett started investing at 11, but the bulk of his wealth, over 99% of it, came after he turned 55.

That’s the magic of compounding. The longer you stay in the game, the more it starts working for you.

His approach wasn’t flashy, and it didn’t involve constant reinvention. He simply understood something most people struggle with - slow, steady effort applied over time produces extraordinary results.

And that’s what I want to explore this week. Not just compounding in your finances, but in the broader sense of building momentum in your life.

Especially if you’re a business owner thinking about how to secure your own financial future beyond the business.

What Makes Compounding So Powerful?

Compounding is basically the snowball effect. In finance, it’s interest on interest, or returns on reinvested returns.

But the principle applies far beyond money. Health. Fitness. Relationships. Reputation. Business experience.

In all of these areas, compounding rewards the person who shows up consistently and keeps going, even when progress feels slow.

The challenge is, we’re not wired to think this way. We expect big results from big effort, ideally sooner rather than later.

But compounding doesn’t care how hard you work in one short burst. It cares whether you keep working over time.

This is where many business owners hit a wall.

You’re probably used to working hard.

But is your personal financial progress compounding? 

Or are you stuck in a loop where all your effort goes back into the business, while your own financial independence stays on the back burner?

The Two Ingredients You Can’t Skip

Compounding only needs two things.

Time and consistent input.

Time is the one most people wish they had more of. You can’t rewind the clock, but you can choose to get started now.

And when it comes to your personal finances, especially investing, the sooner you begin, the more powerful compounding becomes.

The second ingredient is consistent input. Whether it’s investing regularly into your pension or ISA, showing up to the gym, or making time for key relationships, the principle is the same.

Small actions, repeated often, have a cumulative effect. Skip too many days, and the snowball melts.

In financial terms, it means setting up the systems that work quietly in the background.

Regular contributions. Staying invested. Separating your future plans from the day-to-day chaos of business life.

So Why Doesn’t Everyone Do This?

Because it’s boring.

That’s not very inspirational, I know, but it’s honest!

Compounding rewards the people who can stick with something that doesn’t feel very exciting for a long time. There’s no big reveal in month three. There’s no round of applause.

That’s why it helps to have a plan, and maybe a bit of outside support, to make sure you’re feeding the right things, in the right way, for long enough.

I’ve worked with many business owners who only started focusing on their personal finances in their 50s. Some had nothing outside the company. Others had dabbled with investments but never had a clear plan.

What changed everything was the decision to start and then stick with it. That’s when the numbers began to snowball. Not overnight but steadily, and surprisingly quickly, once the momentum kicked in.

On the flip side, I’ve seen others who worked themselves into the ground for years but never separated their business from their personal financial life.

Everything got reinvested. Or spent. Or lost in tax.

And now, approaching retirement, they’re left wondering where it all went.

The Leaper and the Plodder

I sometimes think of this in terms of two types of people. The leaper and the plodder.

The leaper moves forward because they understand the compound effect. They take small, intentional actions. Even when it feels like nothing’s happening.

Because they know that’s how the momentum builds.

The plodder is still moving, still working hard, but without direction. They’re waiting for time alone to deliver results. But time, on its own, doesn’t compound anything. It needs input.

James Clear put it perfectly in Atomic Habits:

 “Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become.”

The same applies to your finances. Every contribution, every decision to stay invested, every step you take towards building a financial life beyond your business it’s all casting a vote for the future you want.

Where to Start

You don’t need to overhaul everything overnight. Just start.

• Start building your own pension plan.

• Start setting money aside consistently.

• Start treating your future self like a priority, not an afterthought.

Even small steps, done regularly, can change the trajectory completely.

If Warren Buffett can keep going well into his nineties and still let compounding work its magic, there’s time for all of us.

But the key, as always, is to get started, and stay started.

😎 THAT’S IT FOR THIS WEEK!

If you need any help with your financial stuff, would like to know more about our services, or have any questions at all, do ping me a reply.

Hilary 😎

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