For Australians 🇦🇺 building wealth, the first 💯k is the milestone where compounding truly becomes meaningful in dollar terms. With a simplified 10% long-term market return (think S&P 500), early years can feel slow: $10,000 → $100,000 takes roughly 24 years with no extra contributions. Once you hit that 💯k base, compounding accelerates: 💵 $100,000 → $200,000: ~7.3 years 💵 $200,000 → $300,000: ~4.3 years 💵 $900,000 → $1,000,000: ~1.1 years Why? Each extra $100k is a smaller percentage jump, so the growth rate compounds faster in dollar terms rather than percentage terms. In practice, reaching the first 💯k boils down to consistent habits: investing regularly, keeping costs and fees low, staying diversified, and staying invested through market cycles rather than reacting to headlines. The goal is to build a base large enough that market growth starts contributing more materially alongside your savings rate. Focus on the first 💯k — then let compounding do more of the heavy lift...