How to grow a meaningful nest egg with little money but a lot of time By Opinion Share A common and unfortunate misconception is that investing is for the rich and that building wealth requires a sizeable amount of money, according to Darius van der Walt, actuary and member of the Investments Committee of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (ASSA). Van der Walt explains that successful investors are those who understand that time is the critical factor when building wealth and not necessarily the amount of money at your disposal. “While you definitely need some spare cash in order to invest, having a lot of time ahead of you is far more important than the amount of money you can spare every month. The earlier in life you start investing, even if it is a small amount, the bigger your nest egg will be when you need it most.”