Compound interest can help turbocharge your savings and investments, or it can quickly lead to an unruly balance, keeping you stuck in a cycle of debt. Its magic can help you earn more — or owe more.

Liliana Hall was a writer for CNET Money covering banking, credit cards and mortgages. Previously, she wrote about personal credit for Bankrate and CreditCards.com. David McMillin writes about credit ...

Compound interest is the interest earned on money that has already earned interest. Compound interest helps your money grow faster, with no additional investment on your part. Many or all of the ...

Compound interest grows your investment as earnings are reinvested to earn additional interest. Investing early in compound interest accounts like savings or CDs maximizes wealth over time.

Compound interest is a favorable method of compensating lenders and depositors wherein interest is periodically credited to the principal, and subsequent interest is paid on the increasing balance.