🍫 The M&M Money Magic Machine

Watch your M&Ms multiply — because compound interest is basically magic

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🎬 The Setup: The Rules of This Game

Starting Bowl
🟤 10
M&Ms = $10
Growth Rate
8%
per year
1 M&M =
$1
real money
Scenario A Just let it grow — no touching it!    Scenario B Add 1 M&M ($1) each month    Scenario C Add 2 M&Ms ($2) each month
📅 Watch It Grow — Milestone by Milestone

🥣 Visualize Your Bowl of M&Ms

Each dot = 1 M&M. Click a year to see how full your bowl gets!

🔵 No Monthly Add
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🟢 +$1/Month
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🔴 +$2/Month
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📈 The Growth Curve — Year by Year

This is what "hockey stick" growth looks like. Notice how the lines curve UPWARD faster and faster.

No Monthly Add
+$1/Month
+$2/Month

🤯 The "WAIT — WHAT?!" Facts

🍫
541
M&Ms at 50 years with ZERO additions — just your original 10 doing their thing (8% with monthly compounding)
💰
$8,506
By adding just $1/month for 50 years — you put in $610 total... and got back $8,506!
🎰
~14x
Over 50 years at 8%, your $1/month can become about $14 — compound interest is the world's best multiplier
🏆
$16,470
Adding just $2/month for 50 years. Total invested = $1,210. Total return = $16,470!
⏰
Rule of 72
Divide 72 ÷ 8% = 9 years to DOUBLE your money. Your 10 M&Ms become 20 in just 9 years!
🏦
7 Bags
+$1/month for 50 years = 8,506 M&Ms. That's 7 party-size bags of M&Ms you never bought!

🎛️ Play With the Numbers!

Drag the sliders to see how different choices change your M&M fortune

Without Monthly Add
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With Monthly Add
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Difference (Power of Adding!)
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📋 Parent Guide: How to Run This Activity

1

🛒 What You'll Need

A bag of M&Ms, small bowls or cups, this printout, and excited kids! Each M&M = $1 in this game.

💡 Pro tip: Use a kitchen scale — 10 M&Ms weighs about 10g. Show them the weight.
2

🎬 Start the Demo

Put 10 M&Ms in a bowl. Say: "This is $10. We're going to put it somewhere that pays us 8% every year — and never touch it." Ask them what they think it'll be in 50 years.

💡 Let them guess — most kids will say $50-$80. The real answer shocks them every time.
3

📅 Do the 5-Year Jump

Tell them 5 years passed. Show the bowl visualization. Add 5 M&Ms to the bowl. Let them count: "We have 15 M&Ms now!" Only 5 extra from 5 years... doesn't seem like much yet.

💡 This sets up the CONTRAST — the early years are small, the late years are HUGE.
4

⚡ The 20 & 50 Year Reveal

Jump to 20 years (49 M&Ms with no add). Ask: "What if you'd added just 1 M&M a month?" Pull up the chart. Show 638 M&Ms. Watch their jaws drop.

💡 Say: "This is why your grandparents wish they'd started when they were YOUR age."
5

🎛️ Let Them Play

Hand them the interactive calculator. Let each kid pick their own numbers. How much would THEY add per month? What if they saved their birthday money?

💡 Ask: "What could you give up each month to add 2 M&Ms?" (A candy bar? One app purchase?)
6

🏦 Connect to Real Life

Explain: S&P 500 has averaged about 10% historically. A Roth IRA lets this growth be tax-free. Starting at age 10 vs 30 is a MASSIVE difference in final wealth.

💡 Bonus: Show them what $25/month at 8% from age 10 to 65 looks like: $140,000+!
🎓 The 3 Big Lessons
⏱️

Time Is Your #1 Superpower

Starting early beats starting big. $1 invested at age 10 is worth WAY more than $1 invested at age 40. The earlier you start, the more time works FOR you.

💧

Small + Consistent Beats Big + Rare

Adding $1/month for 50 years (total: $610) grew to $8,506. You can't eat the M&Ms AND have them grow. Delayed gratification wins every time.

📈

Growth Grows on Growth

The 8% in year 50 is on 469 M&Ms, not on your original 10. That's why the curve goes hockey-stick. You're not just earning — you're earning on your earnings.

Made with 🍫 by Bringing Up Money — Teaching kids the language of money, one M&M at a time.
*8% annual growth rate used for illustration. Past returns don't guarantee future results. All scenarios assume monthly compounding.