Got $100 Per Month to Invest? Here's How Far It Could Go in the Stock Market | The Motley Fool (2024)

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Got $100 Per Month to Invest? Here's How Far It Could Go in the Stock Market | The Motley Fool? ›

If you're still investing $100 per month, you'd have a total of around $518,000 after 35 years, compared to $325,000 in that time period with a 10% return. There are never any guarantees in the stock market, but with the right strategy, a little cash can go a long way.

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.

Key Takeaways. Investing just $100 a month over a period of years can be a lucrative strategy to grow your wealth over time.

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.

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

How much money do I need to invest in stocks to make $3000 a month? ›

If you were to invest in a company offering a 4% annual dividend yield, you would need to invest about $900,000 to generate a monthly income of $3000. While this might seem like a hefty sum, remember that this investment isn't just generating income—it's also likely to appreciate over time.

To generate $500 a month, you might need to build your investments to $150,000. Taking out 4% each year would amount to $6,000, which comes to $500 a month.

The magic of compounding

All of this means that if you invest $200 per month in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF over the next 15 years, your investment could reach $76,254. That's thanks to compounding, or the idea that gains will create more gains as time goes by.

A $100 monthly investment doesn't seem like a lot, but when you put this money into the market, it earns returns. If you earn 10%, in a year, your $100 initial investment would be worth $110.00. Next year, you would earn 10% not on $100, but instead on $110, so you'd end up with $121.00.

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.

If you save $100 monthly for an entire year, you'll have $1,200 in the bank. But if you keep your savings in a savings account, you'll also earn interest. After one year of keeping $1,200 in a high-yield savings account with a 4.5% APY, you'll earn $54 in interest.

But by depositing an additional $100 each month into your savings account, you'd end up with $29,648 after 10 years, when compounded daily. The interest would be $7,648 on total deposits of $22,000.

Some experts recommend withdrawing 4% each year from your retirement accounts. To generate $500 a month, you might need to build your investments to $150,000. Taking out 4% each year would amount to $6,000, which comes to $500 a month.

Buy the index or pick individual stocks for passive income

Right now, the average dividend yield on the S&P/TSX 60 Index is around 3.11%. If you just bought the index, you would need to invest $154,340 to earn an average of $400 per month. Fortunately, you can do even better by picking individual stocks.