1 million dollars or a penny doubled every day for 30 days?

At some point you may have seen the question, “would you rather have a crown that doubles every day for a month or $ 1 million?” You may wonder if the option you instinctively choose is the best option. Fortunately, you can find out with some math. If you had to choose between a penny that doubles every day for a month or $ 1 million this is where you need to know.

A crown that doubles every day for a month or 1 million dollars

The challenging question of what option you would take is actually based on an Indian fable. The “One Grain of Rice” fables – as it is generally referred to – involves a raja that kept rice from his people. A village girl saw rice falling to go to Raja, and in return for her good deed of collecting it and giving it to Raja, she was offered a reward.

The girl initially asked for a grain of rice. As Raja spotted, she changed her request to a grain of rice that doubles every day for thirty days. Raja accepted only to find that the final amount was quite significant.

In many cases, a person’s first instinct when asked to choose between a penny that doubles every day for a month or $ 1 million is to take the million. Mainly because of the fact that $ 1,000,000 and $ 0.01 are so much different, making it look like the penny option couldn’t catch up.

But by going with ear instead you actually come out dramatically. Here is the full breakdown during the day:

Day 1 – 10

Day 11 – 20

Day 21 – 30

Ultimately, the choice of ear leads to more than five times the million dollars alternative. Many consider this a lesson of the power of investing and long -term monetary growth that shows what can happen if you make sure your money works for you.

If you had to choose a penny that doubles every day for a month or $ 1 million before reading the article above, what would you have chosen? Are you surprised that Penny is getting ahead, or did you already know that was the case? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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Tamila McDonald is a US army veteran with 20 years of service, including five years as a military financial adviser. After retiring from the army, she spent eight years as AFCPE certified personal financial adviser to wounded fighters and their families. Now she writes about personal finance and benefits – programs for several financial sites.