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 investing $100 a month? ›

On average, the stock market yields between an 8% to 12% annual return. 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.

How much will I get if I save $100 a month for 18 years? ›

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.

How much is $100 a month invested for 40 years? ›

The numbers may surprise you -- in a good way

In fact, if you invest $100 a month over 40 years, you could end up with a portfolio worth $531,000. However, that number hinges on a very big assumption, and it's that your portfolio is generating an average yearly 10% return.

What if I invested $100 a month in S&P 500? ›

It's extremely unlikely you'll earn 10% returns every single year, but the annual highs and lows have historically averaged out to roughly 10% per year over several decades. Over a lifetime, it's possible to earn over half a million dollars with just $100 per month.

Can I retire at 70 with 300k? ›

If you've managed to save $300k successfully, there's a good chance you'll be able to retire comfortably, though you will have to make some compromises and consider your plans carefully if you want to make that your final figure.

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

$1,176,000. You do NOT have to retire broke. saved more.

What if I invest $200 a month for 20 years? ›

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.

How much is $100 per month? ›

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

Is $100 enough to start investing? ›

But many people mistakenly think that unless they have thousands of dollars lying around, there's no good place to put their money. The good news is that's simply not the case. You can start investing with $100 or even less.

Where to invest $100 per month? ›

You can use an index fund or ETF and invest your £100 a month like clockwork. Ideally, it's often best to look at broad-market tracker funds. This way, you can invest in UK shares with a fund that copies an index like the FTSE 100, or invest in the US stock market with a fund that tracks the S&P 500 index.

How much will I have if I invest $1000 a month for 30 years? ›

As a rule of thumb, the sooner you start saving for retirement the better. If you start by contributing $1,000 a month to a retirement account at age 30 or younger, your savings could be worth more than $1 million by the time you retire.

How much money do I need to invest to make $4000 a month? ›

Making $4,000 a month based on your investments alone is not a small feat. For example, if you have an investment or combination of investments with a 9.5% yield, you would have to invest $500,000 or more potentially. This is a high amount, but could almost guarantee you a $4,000 monthly dividend income.

What if I invested $1000 in S&P 500 10 years ago? ›

Over the past decade, you would have done even better, as the S&P 500 posted an average annual return of a whopping 12.68%. Here's how much your account balance would be now if you were invested over the past 10 years: $1,000 would grow to $3,300. $5,000 would grow to $16,498.

How much money do I need to invest to make $1000 a month? ›

A stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income, Mircea Iosif wrote on Medium. “For example, at a 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000.

How long in years will it take a $300 investment to be worth $1000 if it is continuously compounded at 9% per year? ›

It will take approximately 13.33 years for a $300 investment to grow to $1000 with continuous compounding at an annual interest rate of 9%.

How much will I have if I invest $$200 a month for 40 years? ›

The more time you have to let your money grow, the less you'll need to invest each month. Say, for example, you're investing $200 per month while earning a 10% average annual return. At that rate, you'd have $1 million in savings after around 40 years. Don't have 40 years to invest?

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