Being in your 20s can be a great age bracket for investing in ASX shares because of the time they have for compounding.
If someone is 25, they have roughly 40 years until retirement age. If that person invested $1,000 per month and it returned an average of 10% per year, it'd become worth $5.3 million after 40 years, according to Moneysmart's compound interest calculator.
Compare that to someone who is 45; they have 20 years until retirement age. If that person invested $5,000 per month and it returned an average of 10% per year, it'd become worth $3.4 million after 20 years.
Having more time to compound is far stronger than investing a lot more per month for a shorter time period.
One option for younger Aussies to invest in is growth-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs) such as Vanguard MSCI Index International Shares ETF (ASX: VGS) and VanEck MSCI International Quality ETF (ASX: QUAL).
But, I also like the idea of investing in ASX growth shares that have compelling futures for a long time period.
Tuas Ltd (ASX: TUA)
This company is a rapidly growing telecommunications business in Singapore.
Its value offering is attracting a lot of new customers. In the first half of FY24, its total active mobile services reached 938,000 – up 36% year over year. Revenue rose 38%, slightly faster than subscriber growth, thanks to a small increase in the average revenue per user (ARPU).
One of the most appealing aspects of this business is the operating leverage it's demonstrating, with rising profit margins helping profit levels improve faster than revenue.
HY24 operating profit (EBITDA) jumped 56% to $22.4 million, with the EBITDA margin improving to 41% (up from 36%).
I believe Tuas can continue adding subscribers and delivering scale benefits. With the business already generating positive operating cash flow, I think there's plenty to be positive about this ASX share, particularly if it tries to expand outside of Singapore. That's why I recently became a shareholder.
REA Group Ltd (ASX: REA)
REA Group is the owner of realestate.com.au and various other Australian property-related businesses including realcommercial.com.au and Mortgage Choice.
The strong market position in Australia allows the business to generate decent earnings on properties listed on the site. Many sellers make sure their property is listed on realestate.com.au. It's a great business that regularly implements price increases, which allows it to generate stronger profits.
One of the most exciting things to me about the business is its exposure to overseas markets.
REA India is a particularly compelling segment because of India's huge population and digitalisation process. In the FY24 result, REA India saw revenue growth of 31% to $103 million. I think this business could become much larger in the coming years, which made me excited to invest in this ASX growth share recently.
