How do I go about "compound interest"?

No worries still helpful,

Regarding seeing how often a specific fund pays, quarterly or annually etc, is that research I have to do outside of freetrade? or does freetrade offer that in the description of the fund

Freetrade shows the dividend % on the stock profile but you will have to look to other sources for frequency of payments. ETFs state freequency of dividend payment on their product page. Listed companies will usually have an investors section on their website with dividend information.

Dividendmax.com is a good one

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Hi,so if i have the distibuting version (VUSA),how does that work as i cant buy more shares with the dividends?

How do you reinvest dividends if you cant buy full share with the dividend?

The team have said that fractional ETF’s are something they have in their plans. Until then you would have to wait until you get enough for a whole share or invest in something else.

Should have bought the accumulating version, or just use your dividends from the distribution + top this up so you can buy further shares in VUSA

So say i got a dividend payment and topped it up to buy another share would the "compounding"still work or if i just bought a share every time i could would it not work,still very confused about compound interest,thanks for reply pal.

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Would i have to buy a share everytime i get a dividend for compound to work?

Yes, compounding is where the money you earn then earns money of itself (snowballing). So the dividends being reinvested would compound over time.

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As @MJRInvests said it’s when your interest earns interest. It starts small but has been described as the 8th wonder of the world.

People say money makes money but what they’re really saying is compound interest is powerful.

You’d had a period where you’re wiring to buy a new share and thus it’s not earning money but I would fixate on this when you’re starting, you’ll soon have enough to buy shares in whole

If your not using an accumulation ETF then normally the platform would save up those dividends until it can reinvest them. Freetrade doesn’t support that at the moment so you need to do it yourself

So would i have to in essence buy a share every quarter,the day the dividends lands in account?

You only need that for perfect compounding growth, remember most of the return of that ETF is capital appreciation - which will naturally compound without you doing anything (e.g. if it grows 5% per year you will get the benefits of that compounding over time).

Reinvesting dividends will certainly help and is important, but it’s not the only part of compound growth. Just don’t sweat it too much and buy more units once you have enough cash from dividends or find an accumulating version (VUAG) to take the hassle away.

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Thanks a lot for the reply cameron your a star,im a massive overthinker :grin:i also want to thank you for the ETF knowledge ive seen you post its really helped me with my portfolio the past few weeks.

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Also (haha sorry)does this work with all shares?for example i have coca cola shares,which obviously lets you buy fractional shares which is my plan when i get the dividends to put straight back in,does compounding still apply to all shares?

It may be useful to know that when you put money in the bank you do not gain compound interest. You receive simple interest.

Say you have £100 and earn £1 interest, the following % interest will exclude the previous interest. If the interest rate remains at 1% you would continue earning £1 every year.

With shares, as others have explained every % increase is on the entire investment. Even if you take dividends out, the shares still earn compound interest if the underlying asset has an overall capital gain, just not as much as if you reinvest the dividends.

Compounding really defines the difference between your bank account which has a linear increase in interest, versus any growing shares which enjoy a logarithmic increase.

This isn’t correct, if you have a savings account that pays 1% interest and you put a £100 in:

Year 1 End Balance - £101

Year 2 End Balance = £102.01

Thus meaning you have earned 1% interest on the £101 in your account at the end of year 1.

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In simple interest the calculation only includes the principle sum.

Yeah, but interest in a savings account is compound, you do get interest on the increased balance as @Mattywallace stated

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