"Benjamin Franklin provides us with an actual rather than a hypothetical case. When Franklin died in 1790, he left a gift of $5,000 to each of his two favorite cities, Boston and Philadelphia. He stipulated that the money was to be invested and could be paid out at two specific dates, the first 100 years and the second 200 years after the date of the gift. After 100 years, each city was allowed to withdraw $500,000 for public works projects. After 200 years, in 1991, they received the balance--which had compounded to approximately $20 million for each city. Franklin's example teaches all of us, in a dramatic way, the power of compounding. As Franklin himself liked to describe the benefits of compounding, "Money makes money. And the money that money makes, makes money."