Investment calculator | American Funds (2024)

FAQs

What if I invested $1,000 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.

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.

How much money will I have if I invest $1,000 a month for 30 years? Investing $1,000 a month for 30 years, with an average annual return of 7%, can yield a total of approximately $1.22 million. This calculation shows how regular, long-term investments can grow significantly over time, thanks to compound interest.

$100 a month invested from age 25 to 65 is $1,176,000. You do NOT have to retire broke. A lot of people will want to argue with me on that rate of return. But here's the truth: Historically, the 30-year average return of the S&P 500 has been about 10–12%.

Craziest thing I learned recently: $10,000 invested in the S&P 500 in 1980 would be worth over $1M today.

The $27,612.66 figure is based on $10,000 invested with the S&P 500's historical average annual return of 10.2%, but real-world results will vary.

If the average dividend yield of your portfolio is 4%, you'd need a substantial investment to generate $3,000 per month. To be precise, you'd need an investment of $900,000. This is calculated as follows: $3,000 X 12 months = $36,000 per year.

Receiving $4,000 per month translates into an annual total of $48,000, excluding the need to pay any income taxes. With a 4% dividend yield, it'd take a required portfolio size of $1.2 million to make that cash flow of $48,000. Of course, having a higher dividend yield would mean less of a required nest egg.

Saving $13,000 would leave you with $3,000 a month to meet all your expenses—a perfectly reasonable number for many singles, and even some couples. Saving and investing $13,000 a month with a 10% annual return would allow you to become a millionaire in just over five years.

Now, let's consider how our calculations change if the time horizon is 10 years. If you are starting from scratch, you will need to invest about $4,757 at the end of every month for 10 years. Suppose you already have $100,000. Then you will only need $3,390 at the end of every month to become a millionaire in 10 years.

How can I double $5000 dollars? ›

How can I double $5000 dollars? One way to potentially double $5,000 is by investing it in a 401(k) account, especially if your employer matches your contributions. For example, if you invest $5,000 and your employer offers to fully match at 100%, you could start with a total of $10,000 in your account.

Is it Better to Start Saving for Retirement at 25 or 35? The earlier you can start saving for retirement, the better. If you can set aside money when you are 25 years old, you can use the power of compounding for an extra 10 years compared to if you started saving at age 35.

Here's how a 10.25% return would break down if you invested $5,000 at the beginning of each year over four decades. Data source: Author's calculations. As you can see from the chart, investing $5,000 annually in the S&P 500 would make you a millionaire in a little over 30 years, assuming average 10.25% annual returns.

Once you have $1 million in assets, you can look seriously at living entirely off the returns of a portfolio. After all, the S&P 500 alone averages 10% returns per year. Setting aside taxes and down-year investment portfolio management, a $1 million index fund could provide $100,000 annually.

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.

Returns in the S&P 500 over the coming decade are more likely to be in the 3%-6% range, as multiples and margins are unlikely to expand, leaving sales growth, buybacks, and dividends as the main drivers of appreciation.

The result is the number of years, approximately, it'll take for your money to double. For example, if an investment scheme promises an 8% annual compounded rate of return, it will take approximately nine years (72 / 8 = 9) to double the invested money.