My Investing Notebook :: Learning from the pros; making decisions on my own. ::

How much money do you need to invest to become a millionaire? That’s a good question. I tried to answer that using a Financial Calculator found on Investopedia.com. I entered that I want to be a millionaire when I’m 50 years old, and that I think my money will grow at 10% (I think that’s actually mediocre growth — but hey, that’s not bad), so what did I get: I’ll be a millionaire if I invest $672 monthly. We’ll see. Actually, with my $500/month stock-investment, mutual-fund investment, and 401(k), I’m putting more than that so I’ll should be a millionaire soon — yeah, right. That’s not my goal; my goal is long-term, consistent investing.

Try out the calculator at Investopedia.com for yourself here.

Interpretation that I received:

If you are 25 years old with $10,000.00 invested at a rate of 10%, you will need to continue investing $672.02 per month to be a millionaire at 50 years of age.

The more you invest monthly and the more you already have invested, the less time you need to become a millionaire. Logically then, the amount you need to save monthly would increase if your time horizon, your already-invested money, or your investment rate were to decrease.