The Motley Fool thinks share market investing should be a lifetime pursuit. Once you take the plunge, you should be prepared to keep investing in the market on a regular basis, ideally every single month.
Why?
1. Saving is a good habit.
2. Investing in the share market gives you an excellent opportunity to accumulate a meaningful nest-egg, over the long-term.
3. Over time, history has shown the share market to be the best performing class of asset of all, returning 11% per annum over the past 30 years.
4. Over the very long-term, the miracle of compounding returns can and will do wonders to your wealth.
Turn A Starting Investment Of $10,000 Into $1 Million
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has an excellent savings and investment interactive calculator. Here are some potentially compelling outcomes as a result of saving regularly into the share market.
* $0 initial investment, then $100 invested per month, for 40 years, growing at 8% per annum, turns into $324,180.
* $2,000 initial investment, then $150 invested per month, for 38 years, growing at 8.5% per annum, turns into $513,725.
* $5,000 initial investment, then $200 invested per month, for 35 years, growing at 9% per annum, turns into $644,681.
* $10,000 initial investment, then $250 invested per month, for 35 years, growing at 9.5% per annum, turns into $1,001,462.
Obviously nothing is guaranteed, and future returns may lag historical returns.
But, you can control 2 things…
1. Your choice of asset class. Here at the Motley Fool, we think shares are best, and we think the evidence for investing in the share market is compelling.
2. The amount of money you commit to save and invest.
Save Little Now, Create Large Wealth Ahead
For people with a young family, a large mortgage and only one breadwinner, we realise saving and investing $250 per month might be a stretch.
But $100 per month? If you don't have credit card debt, or any other non-mortgage debt, we'd suggest regularly saving at least $100 per month is easily attainable. After all, if you break it down, if you save just $3.33 a day, over the course of a month you'll have saved your $100.
Once you get into the saving habit, you'll find you never miss that $100 or $200 per month. But you'll certainly see the fruits of your labour in the months and years ahead. As you can see, the magical million dollar mark is attainable.
Ready to take the saving and investing plunge? Zip on over to Your Simple 4 Step DIY Wealth Creation Plan and get cracking. We'll tell you exactly where to start, and exactly where to invest your savings.
