The prettiest two words you ever want to hear when investing are: Compounded Interest. A perfect example comes from the one and only Benjamin Franklin.

Franklin decided to leave about $4,550 at the time of his death each to his native hometown of Boston and adopted hometown of Philadelphia on the condition that it gather interest for 200 years. Franklin believed 200 years was the maximum length of time any person should be able to control assets from beyond the grave.

It could have theoretically reached well over $78,000,000 if the two cities had never spent any and had managed it well.

The point of Franklin’s experiment was trying to illustrate the tremendous power of compound interest for future generations. The longer you keep your money invested, the more amazing the power of compound interest. So start saving today, and put your money to work for you!

Want to read more about Franklin’s amazing gift? Here’s a NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/21/us/from-ben-franklin-a-gift-that-s-worth-two-fights.html

April is National Financial Literacy Month, Talkin’ Money’s favorite month! To celebrate the importance of being financially literate, we’re going to post financial literacy tips every day.