Here's an interesting take on long-term wealth building: if you look at the S&P's track record since the 1950s, it's been grinding out roughly 10.5% annual returns on average. That's actually pretty solid when you think about compounding over decades. Run the numbers—if someone dropped just $1,000 at birth and let it sit until retirement age, you're looking at somewhere north of $600,000 by the time they hang up their hat. It's not flashy, but that's the power of time in the market. The key assumption here is that historical performance holds, which obviously comes with its own set of caveats. Still, it's a neat illustration of why starting early and staying invested matters for building real wealth.