<prompt> Human: I understand the concept of compound interest, however, when people talk about the benefits of investing and compound interest I get lost. For example, if a stock goes up 1 from what I purchased it, then Ill get 1 profit if I sell it at that price. Where is the compound interest? Also, if I dont sell the stocks and decided to keep them for the long term, where is the compound interest?  <response>: Equity is not the same as fixed income. Interest rate applies to things like bonds. There is no interest with stock appreciation, so to answer your question, there is no compound interest. 