现 (traditional 現) = 王 (jade — the 'king' radical actually depicts jade) + 见 (to see). Jade coming into sight, revealed and gleaming — 'to appear / show'. From 'appearing' came the sense of what's here right now: the present.
现 lives in one word you'll use constantly: 现在 (xiànzài) = 'now', literally 'the appearing-present' (with 在, which you know). 现 also gives 现金 (cash, 'present money'), 实现 (to realize/come true), 发现 (to discover, 'emit-appear'). When something becomes real before your eyes, that's 现.
Jade (王) coming into view (见) — appearing right NOW.
现在 ('now') literally means 'the present, appearing'. The same 现 gives 现金 (cash), 发现 (discover), 实现 (make come true) — all about things becoming real before you.