Difference between "interest accrued" and 'interest accumulated'?
Is there a difference between "interest accrued" and 'interest accumulated' in the following? I'm not used to the word to accrue.

“I should have put aside a small amount with each paycheck, even if only a few dollars per week. With interest accrued over the course of 40 years, I would have accumulated enough of a nest egg to do all of the fun things that I want to do in retirement—like visit my grandkids and own my home. Instead, I have to rely on Social Security and my modest 401(k), making me feel like I have to pinch pennies to get by.”

Question

Difference between "interest accrued" and 'interest accumulated'?
Is there a difference between "interest accrued" and 'interest accumulated' in the following? I'm not used to the word to accrue.

“I should have put aside a small amount with each paycheck, even if only a few dollars per week. With interest accrued over the course of 40 years, I would have accumulated enough of a nest egg to do all of the fun things that I want to do in retirement—like visit my grandkids and own my home. Instead, I have to rely on Social Security and my modest 401(k), making me feel like I have to pinch pennies to get by.”

Answer

Acrue is used more often in finance and banking circles but accumulated works as well.

Acrue usually implies a build up. Like how interest can build up over a period of time while accumulated does not have the same implication.

Answer

The verbs "to accrue" and "to accumulate" are different verbs, but with only slightly different meanings. They both mean to collect.

'Accrue' is mostly used when talking about money, interest, etc., such as in your example with: "With interest accrued over the past 40 years." This means that if this person had put away money over the last 40 years, she could have collected interest on it (to ACCRUE the interest) and therefore have ACCUMULATED enough money to have a nice retirement.

Essentially they are very similar words, but 'accrued' is used mostly when talking about financial matters, whereas 'accumulate' is much more common in everyday speech.