Investing $100 a Month: How Much Will You Make? - SmartAsset (2024)

Investing $100 a Month: How Much Will You Make? - SmartAsset (1)

Investing $100 a month gives you the chance to make regular progress toward your financial goals. Sticking to a regular commitment can help you build wealth over time. If you are ready to invest $100 a month, your returns will vary based on your investment choices. Although it’s possible to build an investment portfolio by yourself, working with a financial advisorcan help you keep it balanced.

What Impacts Your Investment Returns

Whether you’re investing $100 a month or $1,000 per month, your investment returns are impacted by several factors. Specifically, the assets you choose and your investment timeline will significantly impact your returns. Here’s a closer look at both:

  • Assets.The assetsyou invest in have a big impact on your investment returns. Investors with a higher risk tolerance might choose more volatile assets, which have the potential for greater returns. But investors with a lower risk tolerance often choose more stable assets, which come with lower returns.
  • Investment timeline. The amount of time you plan to let your investments grow matters. Not only will a longer timeline allow you to contribute a more substantial sum to your portfolio, but it also gives your investments a chance to grow.

Invest $100 a Month in the Stock Market: Potential Returns

Investing in the stock market is one way to build your portfolio. Typically, the stock market is viewed as a relatively risky investment due to its inherent volatility.

Let’s look at the potential returns for two different scenarios:

  • Long-term investor. Using SmartAsset’s investment calculator, let’s say you’re investing $100 per month with retirement in mind. You plan to invest $100 per month for 25 years and expect a 10% return. In this case, you would contribute $30,000 over your investment timeline. At the end of the term, your portfolio would be worth $133,889. With that, your portfolio would earn around $103,889 in returns during your 25 years of contributions.
  • Short-term investor.Let’s say that you are investing $100 per month with a future home down payment in mind. You plan to invest $100 per month for five years and expect a 10% return. In this case, you would contribute $6,000 over your investment timeline. At the end of the term, SmartAsset’s investment calculator shows that your portfolio would be worth nearly $8,000. With that, your portfolio would earn around $2,000 in returns during your five years of contributions.

It’s easy to see that time is on your side when it comes to building an investment portfolio. If possible, stick to a long-term investment horizon. Although it’s not always possible, a long-term outlook can help you make the most of your portfolio contributions.

For those looking to harness the power of the stock market, investing in an index fund tied to the is an often-recommended strategy. With this choice, you can ensure your investment portfolio keeps up with the market. That’s much easier to do than beating the stock market.

Invest $100 a Month in the Bonds: Potential Returns

Investors with a lower risk tolerance often choose to invest in bonds. Typically, these are considered to be safer investments than the stock market. But with that safety comes smaller returns.

Let’s look at the potential returns for two different scenarios:

  • Long-term investor: Let’s say that you are investing $100 per month with retirement in mind. You plan to invest $100 per month for 30 years and expect a 6% return. In this case, you would contribute $36,000 over your investment timeline. At the end of the term, your bond portfolio would be worth $97,451. With that, your portfolio would earn more than $61,000 in returns during your 30 years of contributions.
  • Short-term investor:Let’s say that you are investing $100 per month with a big purchase in mind. You plan to invest $100 per month for five years and expect a 6% return. In this case, you would contribute $6,000 over your investment timeline. At the end of the term, your portfolio would be worth $6,949. With that, your portfolio would earn around $950 in returns during your five years of contributions.

Although the returns offered in the bond market are less compelling than the stock market, the relative security is a key factor for many investors.

Save $100 a Month in a Savings Account: Potential Returns

If you are on the fence about investing your money at all, an alternative is choosing to save your money. Of course, building up savings is preferred to spending all of your money. But keeping too much of your money in savings means you’ll miss out on investment returns.

For example, let’s say that you chose to save $100 per month for the next five years. You make all the right moves by opening a high-yield savings account that promises an APY of 2%. During this time, your $6,000 of contributions would grow to $6,303. In other words, you would have only earned around $300.

Saving is important. But this example highlights the importance of investing if you are looking to build wealth over the long term. If you have room in your budget to make regular investments, then make that a priority after you’ve built a reasonable emergency fund to cover your expenses for a few months after any unexpected financial blows.

Bottom Line

Investing $100 a Month: How Much Will You Make? - SmartAsset (3)

When you make fixed contributions on a regular basis to your investment portfolio, you can slowly build wealth. Although it might take time to see the fruits of your labor, it can definitely pay off in a big way. Investors comfortable taking on more risk might find the biggest returns in the stock market. But investors seeking a low-risk option might find what they are looking for in the bond market.

Tips to Reach Your Savings Goals

  • A financial advisor can guide you in building a portfolio that matches your financial needs and goals.SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisorswho serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
  • If you need help figuring out the asset balance for your portfolio, SmartAsset’s free toolcan show you different portfoliobreakdowns based on the risk profile that you choose.

Photo credit: ©iStock.com/David Gyung,©iStock.com/Vladimir Vladimirov,©iStock.com/fizkes

Investing $100 a Month: How Much Will You Make? - SmartAsset (2024)

FAQs

How much can I make if I invest $100 a month? ›

Investing $100 per month, with an average return rate of 10%, will yield $200,000 after 30 years. Due to compound interest, your investment will yield $535,000 after 40 years. These numbers can grow exponentially with an extra $100. If you make a monthly investment of $200, your 30-year yield will be close to $400,000.

How much money do I need to invest to make $200 a month? ›

Those who are able to save a significant amount beyond their retirement account contributions may be able to generate $200 monthly in interest. “If you have $50,000 in a high-yield savings account offering 5% APY, that's $200 a month right there,” Henry says.

How much money do I need to invest to make $500 a month? ›

To generate $500 a month in passive income you may need to invest between $83,333 and $250,000, depending on the asset and investment type you select. In addition to yield, you'll want to consider safety, liquidity and convenience when selecting the investments you'll employ to provide monthly passive income.

How much is $100 a month from 25 to 65? ›

Dave Ramsey on X: "$100 a month invested from age 25 to 65 is $1,176,000.

How much do I need to invest to make $1,000 a month? ›

To make $1,000 per month on T-bills, you would need to invest $240,000 at a 5% rate. This is a solid return — and probably one of the safest investments available today. But do you have $240,000 sitting around? That's the hard part.

What is $10000 at 6 for 5 years? ›

What is the future value of $10,000 on deposit for 5 years at 6% simple interest? Summary: An investment of $10000 today invested at 6% for five years at simple interest will be $13,000.

How to save $1000000 in 5 years? ›

Saving a million dollars in five years requires an aggressive savings plan. Suppose you're starting from scratch and have no savings. You'd need to invest around $13,000 per month to save a million dollars in five years, assuming a 7% annual rate of return and 3% inflation rate.

How much do I need to invest Monthly to be a millionaire? ›

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.

What happens if I invest $500 a month? ›

For example, if you are able to commit to investing $500 a month in an S&P 500 index fund like the Vanguard 500 Fund (NYSEMKT: VOO), you'll eventually have $1 million, and that includes paying the 0.03% expense ratio in the ETF, meaning you'll pay 3 cents each year for every $100 you have invested in the index fund.

How much to invest per month to become a millionaire in 5 years? ›

So, what do you need to do to have $1 million after five years? If you have never invested before (you have zero balance in your investment account), you need to invest approximately $12,821 at the end of every month for the next five years.

How can I make $500 passive income monthly? ›

To generate $500 a month in passive income you may need to invest between $83,333 and $250,000, depending on the asset and investment type you select. In addition to yield, you'll want to consider safety, liquidity and convenience when selecting the investments you'll employ to provide monthly passive income.

How much do I need to invest to get $5000 a month? ›

To generate $5,000 per month in dividends, you would need a portfolio value of approximately $1 million invested in stocks with an average dividend yield of 5%. For example, Johnson & Johnson stock currently yields 2.7% annually.

Is $100 a month enough to invest? ›

The good news, though, is that you don't need to be a stock market expert or have thousands of dollars per month to invest. In fact, with just $100 per month, you could potentially build a portfolio worth $325,000 or more. Here's exactly how to get there.

How much is $100 a month for a year? ›

$100 monthly is how much per year? If you make $100 per month, your Yearly salary would be $1,200. 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.

How much is $100 a month for 18 years? ›

This chart shows that a monthly contribution of $100 will compound more if you start saving earlier, giving the money more time to grow. If you save $100 a month for 18 years, your ending balance could be $35,400. If you save $100 a month for 9 years, your ending balance could be about $13,900.

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