S&P 500 Investment Time Machine
Imagine you put $1,000 into either fund 10 years ago. You'd be up to roughly 126.4% — or $3,282 — from VOO and 126.9% — or $3,302 — from SPY. That's not exactly wealthy, but it shows how you can more than triple your money by holding an asset with relatively low long-term risk.
Based on that math, a $100 investment in a broad-market index fund should double in value in less than eight years. So, using the compounding power of time, your $100 would conservatively become: $200 in eight years.
You invest instead in a low-cost stock market index fund aiming for the market's historical average return of about 10%, you could double your money in just over seven years (72 ÷ 10 = 7.2).
However, the more precise method to calculate the exact number of years is using the exact doubling time which is 7.27 years, based on compound interest. Therefore, the correct answer to the question of how long it will take to double a $2,000 investement at 10% interest is A. 7.27 years.
And you'll need to invest effectively, such as in a low-fee S&P 500 index fund. If you can invest $500 per month into the stock market and you earn its historical average annual return of roughly 10%, you'll be a millionaire in about 30 years. It will take about 21 years if you invest $1,250 per month.
How much is needed to invest in an index fund? The minimum needed depends on the fund and your broker's policies. If your broker allows you to buy fractional shares of stock, you may be able to invest in index fund ETFs with as little as $1. If not, your minimum investment will be the cost of one share of the ETF.
Index funds typically pay dividends if the underlying companies they invest in pay them. You may be able to choose between 'income' or 'accumulation' when investing in an index fund. The 'income' option may suit you if you're looking for regular income, although, like all investments, there are no guarantees.
Invest in Dividend Stocks
Last but certainly not least, a stock portfolio focused on dividends can generate $1,000 per month or more in perpetual passive income. However, at an example 4% dividend yield, you would need a portfolio worth $300,000, which is a substantial upfront investment.
Buffett is a highly successful stock picker, but he says regular investors should buy index funds instead. His Berkshire Hathaway owns two ETFs that directly track the performance of the S&P 500 index. The S&P 500 could deliver a return of 158% by 2030, according to Tom Lee from Fundstrat Global Advisors.
In order to purchase shares of an index fund, you'll need to open an investment account. A brokerage account, individual retirement account (IRA) or Roth IRA will all work. You can then buy the fund in the account.
You would have more than doubled your money, with a total investment worth of $2,029.55. That's a 103% return, or a 7.23% annual rate of return. Interestingly, despite Coke's dominance on the world stage, investing in Coke's main rival, Pepsi, 10 years ago would have given you more pop for your buck.
Warren Buffett has said that 90 percent of the money he leaves to his wife should be invested in stocks, with just 10 percent in cash. Does that work for non-billionaires? As far as asset allocation advice goes, 90 percent in stocks sounds pretty aggressive.
Both index funds and ETFs offer investors unique advantages and cater to different investment preferences. While index funds provide simplicity, stability, and cost-effectiveness for long-term investors, ETFs offer greater flexibility, intraday trading options, and potential for active management strategies.
Index funds have minimal fees and are easy to own. However, it's hard to get really rich off index funds alone. In addition, if you want to achieve financial independence well before the traditional retirement age of 65, investing only in index funds is probably not going to cut it.
Bottom Line. If you want to actively trade within your accounts, Fidelity might be the better option. However, if you want to focus more on index investing, or you want to use a robo-advisor, Vanguard has a slight edge.
$3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year. $36,000 / 6% dividend yield = $600,000. On the other hand, if you're more risk-averse and prefer a portfolio yielding 2%, you'd need to invest $1.8 million to reach the $3,000 per month target: $3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year.
SPY is more expensive with a Total Expense Ratio (TER) of 0.0945%, versus 0.03% for VOO. SPY is up 28.31% year-to-date (YTD) with +$7.13B in YTD flows. VOO performs better with 28.36% YTD performance, and +$103.99B in YTD flows.
Buy $4000 worth of goods at wholesale, resell them with a 150% markup. Pay your taxes. Done. Invest some of the money in tools and supplies and provide a service.
The table below shows the present value (PV) of $1,000 in 20 years for interest rates from 2% to 30%. As you will see, the future value of $1,000 over 20 years can range from $1,485.95 to $190,049.64.
$10,000 invested in the S&P 500 at the beginning of 2000 would have grown to $32,527 over 20 years — an average return of 6.07% per year.