What if I invest $$200 a month for 20 years?
If you can invest $200 each and every month and achieve a 10% annual return, in 20 years you'll have more than $150,000 and, after another 20 years, more than $1.2 million. Your actual rate of return may vary, and you'll also be affected by taxes, fees and other influences.
Investing as little as $200 a month can, if you do it consistently and invest wisely, turn into more than $150,000 in as soon as 20 years. If you keep contributing the same amount for another 20 years while generating the same average annual return on your investments, you could have more than $1.2 million.
The good news is you would need less than that to get to $1 million if you invest $200 per month. If you were to invest $200 per month over the course of the next 30 years, that would equate to a total investment of $72,000.
How that works, in practice: Let's say you invest $200 every month for 10 years and earn a 6% average annual return. At the end of the 10-year period, you'll have $33,300. Of that amount, $24,200 is money you've contributed — those $200 monthly contributions — and $9,100 is interest you've earned on your investment.
For simplicity's sake, assume that compounding takes place once a year. After 20 years, you will have paid 20 x 12 x $100 = $24,000 into the fund. However, the compounding return will more than double your investment.
If you're investing $200 per month while earning a 10% average annual return, you'd have around $395,000 after 30 years. While that's a long time to invest, keep in mind that this investment requires next to no effort. All the stocks are chosen for you, and you never need to decide when to buy or sell.
By contributing $200 each month, your fund will add up throughout the year -- $2,400 is a solid amount of cash. Since most checking accounts don't earn interest, keeping your extra funds in a savings account is smart. One option is a high-yield savings account.
Assuming that you can earn this 10% average return over your investing career, if you are getting started investing this year and you want to become a millionaire in 30 years, you would need to invest $506.60 per month. This amount may seem like a lot, but it may actually be pretty doable for many people.
The short answer to what happens if you invest $500 a month is that you'll almost certainly build wealth over time. In fact, if you keep investing that $500 every month for 40 years, you could become a millionaire. More than a millionaire, in fact. Investing is about buying assets you believe will increase in value.
The truth is that most investors won't have the money to generate $1,000 per month in dividends; not at first, anyway. Even if you find a market-beating series of investments that average 3% annual yield, you would still need $400,000 in up-front capital to hit your targets.
How much do I need to invest monthly to be a millionaire in 20 years?
For example, it takes $1,400 per month to reach $1 million in 20 years. However if you can find 30 years to save, it only takes $475 per month to reach the same goal. This isn't easy, but finding the extra time may be easier than finding an extra $12,000 per year.
| Current Savings | Inflation Rate | Monthly Savings Goal |
|---|---|---|
| $0 | 3% | $1,959 |
| $10,000 | 3% | $1,883 |
| $100,000 | 3% | $1,201 |
Investing $1,000 a month for 20 years would leave you with around $687,306. The specific amount you end up with depends on your returns -- the S&P 500 has averaged 10% returns over the last 50 years. The more you invest (and the earlier), the more you can take advantage of compound growth.
- Bond funds.
- Dividend stocks.
- Value stocks.
- Target-date funds.
- Real estate.
- Small-cap stocks.
- Robo-advisor portfolio.
- Roth IRA.
Now, let's consider how our calculations change if the time horizon is 10 years. If you are starting from scratch, you will need to invest about $4,757 at the end of every month for 10 years. Suppose you already have $100,000. Then you will only need $3,390 at the end of every month to become a millionaire in 10 years.
| Discount Rate | Present Value | Future Value |
|---|---|---|
| 2% | $1,000 | $1,485.95 |
| 3% | $1,000 | $1,806.11 |
| 4% | $1,000 | $2,191.12 |
| 5% | $1,000 | $2,653.30 |
According to Ramsey's tweet, investing $100 per month for 40 years gives you an account value of $1,176,000. Ramsey's assumptions include a 12% annual rate of return, which some critics have labeled as optimistic given that the long-term average annual return of the S&P 500 index is closer to 10%.
| If you invest $100 a month for this many years... | ...this is how much you'll end up with. |
|---|---|
| 10 | $21,037.40 |
| 15 | $41,939.68 |
| 20 | $75,603.00 |
| 25 | $129,818.12 |
$200 monthly is how much per year? If you make $200 per month, your Yearly salary would be $2,400. This result is obtained by multiplying your base salary by the amount of hours, week, and months you work in a year, assuming you work 40 hours a week.
To reach $10,000 in one year, you'll need to save $833.33 each month. To break it down even further, you'll need to save $192.31 each week or $27.40 every day. These smaller chunks are much more realistic and simple to comprehend, making it easier to track your progress.
Is saving $1,000 a month realistic?
Saving money in this inflationary environment can be difficult, but it's not impossible. If you want to save $1,000 in a month, that can be within reach with a few straightforward steps. Financial experts recommend taking a few steps to get there.
Saving $500 a month is an excellent starting point. Yes, it's ambitious, but it's achievable and will set you up financially over time.
- Build your financial literacy skills. ...
- Take control of your finances. ...
- Get in the wealthy mindset. ...
- Create a budget and live within your means. ...
- Step 5: Save to invest. ...
- Create multiple income sources. ...
- Surround yourself with other wealthy people.
Getting out of debt, investing consistently for retirement, and getting your home paid off quickly are the three keys to going from zero to millionaire in two decades or less. That's the formula that has worked for thousands of millionaires all over the country—and it can work for you too!
You need more money than ever to enter the ranks of the top 1% of the richest Americans. To join the club of the wealthiest citizens in the U.S., you'll need at least $5.8 million, up about 15% up from $5.1 million one year ago, according to global real estate company Knight Frank's 2024 Wealth Report.
