The Wealth Matrix
Building a System That Compounds at 15% Annually
Over the last decade, I’ve worked across a mix of high-quality business roles — consulting, investing, and tech strategy — and made a series of deliberate investments in education: undergrad, CFA, and an MBA from a top-10 global B-school. I’ve also had the chance to build experiences and absorb different cultures across both India and the U.S.
Now, with no major education milestone ahead, I find myself taking a longer-term view — not just on career, but on how I think about money and wealth creation. I’m entering a phase where income is more consistent and capital starts to build. Naturally, a few questions come to mind: what exactly is my objective when it comes to wealth creation, and how should I pursue it?
This article is an attempt to lay down my current thinking.
So how do I think about wealth creation?
For me, the objective is simple:
Grow my assets at 15% CAGR for the next 40 years.
Why 15%?
The first question is — why 15%? And is it even possible?
The S&P 500 has delivered ~10% annually over the long run. That’s the baseline. But over the past decade, I’ve accumulated the skills, judgment, and experience to manage an active portfolio — and that’s the direction I want to take.
If I’m going to put in the effort to actively manage my capital, then I should aim higher than 10%, right? Otherwise, what’s even the point? So the real question becomes: how much higher is realistic?
Warren Buffett has delivered ~20% CAGR since 1969. I’m not Buffett.
But some of the investors I admire — Pulak Prasad, Dev Kantesaria, Terry Smith — have delivered ~15–18% over long horizons. I’d want to be conservative, yet ambitious, so I’ll take 15% as the target.
What can 15% get us?
Let’s put it into numbers (just for reference)
If I invest $1,000 every month starting today, increase that by 5% annually, and compound at 15% annually over 40 years, the future value comes out to approximately $45.7 million.
If I increase my monthly contribution to $2,000, I’d end up with ~$90M.
Putting in a couple of grand to become a centi-millionaire at some point in life? Yeah that’s a trade I’d take that any day.
How to get 15%?
Now the real question is, how do we generate 15% annually? It seems like a tall task.
If I leave money in a savings account, I might earn 4–5%. Investing in bonds might get me 7–9%. Investing in the stock market index — say, the S&P 500 — gives me ~10%.
There are very few asset classes that can deliver 15%+ annual returns over a long period of time. The only viable way I know is this:
Own individual companies that can grow earnings at ~15% a year.
What kind of companies can do that?
A company’s stock price compounds at roughly the same rate as its earnings, unless the valuation multiple changes dramatically — which I don’t want to count on.
So to hit 15% CAGR, I need to find companies that can compound earnings at ~15% annually, and make sure that the valuation stays in a similar range (or improves) during the course of my holding period.
And historically, I understand that earnings growth comes from three sources:
Revenue growth (~60–70% of the driver)
Margin expansion (10–20%)
Buybacks / capital allocation (5–10%)
This means I’m looking for businesses that can grow revenue by 10–12% every year, maintain or improve margins, and reinvest cash wisely.
It’s not easy. Most companies can't sustain this. Which is why the few that can — and that are available at a reasonable valuation — become the core of the strategy.
I’m not expecting to find one company that compounds at 15% for the next 40 years. My approach is to find companies that can deliver this kind of performance over 5–10 year periods — and then reassess. That feels more realistic and more actionable.
The path forward
This post isn’t the conclusion — it’s the starting point. I’m not making any big claims. I’m laying out what I want to optimize for.
15% over 40 years. That’s the mental model I want to build around. It informs how I allocate money, what kind of businesses I research, and how I evaluate risk.
I’ll share more over time on how I’m approaching this — what companies I’m looking at, what filters I’m building, and what I’m learning from others who’ve done it well.
If you’re thinking about similar questions — how to define your wealth goals and build systems/targets around them — I’d love to exchange notes.
I’d like to do wealth creation!
Very good article. Do you envision investing in just the US? Or more globally?