Would you rather · the money edition

$1 billion now or $1 that doubles?

Viral money dilemmas always hide the real question: for how long? Set up any offers, pick before you peek, and watch them race.

Run it for

What does doubling the rate actually do?

Most people guess "twice the money." It's not even close, because growth stacks on growth. Drag the sliders.

Why: doubling the rate doubles the number of doublings

Each block above is one doubling of your money. Twice the rate means each doubling arrives about twice as fast, so you fit twice as many into the same years. And twice as many doublings doesn't double the result. It squares the growth: 3 doublings is ×8, 6 doublings is ×64.

Three ways to "double" your plan

The rule of 72

Divide 72 by the rate to get roughly how many years it takes your money to double.

It works against you too. A credit card at 24% doubles an ignored balance in about 3 years. At 12%, about 6. And the doubling-every-day offer up top? That's a 100% rate per day. No real account comes within a mile of it, which is exactly why it wins on paper.

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