As of 2025, the Average Social Security Retirement Benefit Check Is $1,976. Could Nvidia Help Boost Your Retirement?

Key Points

• To enjoy the lifestyle they hope for in retirement, most seniors will need to supplement their Social Security with other sources of income.

• Nvidia dominates the market for AI data center chips, and could achieve similar success in supplying chips for autonomous vehicles and robots.

• High-growth tech stocks can be more volatile and risky, so they are more suitable for investors with long time horizons.

• 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia ›

Many retired Americans rely heavily on Social Security checks for their income, but often, those payments don't stretch far enough to cover all of their expenses. According to government data, in 2025, the average Social Security benefit is just $1,976 per month.

If that doesn't sound like much, that's because it isn't. A recent study projected that by 2040, 32.6 million U.S. households with retirement-age individuals could have an average cash shortfall of more than $7,000 annually. That gap between retirement income and retirees' needs is a big reason why many Americans will need to do more to build their own portfolios of investments, rather than trying to rely on Social Security benefits alone.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

If you're on the hunt for stocks that could help you build wealth over the long haul that you can eventually tap in retirement, there are a few compelling reasons to make Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) one of your picks.

Image source: Getty Images.

Why Nvidia could continue to be a good long-term investment

Nvidia has become a common go-to investment among both tech enthusiasts and average investors over the past few years, as the company is benefiting from a steep increase in spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure. Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) dominate the artificial intelligence (AI) data center market -- it sells an estimated 70% to 95% of all AI chips for infrastructure.

In Q2, the company's data center revenue jumped 56% year over year to $41 billion, and its non-GAAP earnings per share jumped 54% to $1.05. Eventually, Nvidia's customers could slow their spending on its hardware -- particularly if AI doesn't deliver the results those companies are hoping for -- but that day hasn't come yet. Nvidia CFO Colette Kress estimates that tech companies will invest up to $4 trillion into AI data centers over the next five years.

And it's not just AI data centers that could fuel Nvidia's future growth. The company's tech is already being used in autonomous vehicles, and advances in the robotics industry could create another expanding new market for it in the coming years. Some estimates forecast that the global autonomous vehicle market will grow to more than $2 trillion over the next five years, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said recently that robotics (including autonomous vehicles) and AI represent a "multitrillion-dollar growth opportunity" for his company.

Though Nvidia stock has already soared by more than 1,100% over the past three years, the combination of its dominance in AI data center processors and its emerging opportunities in robotics and autonomous vehicles suggests it will remain a good long-term investment.

More growth could be ahead for Nvidia, but keep this in mind

While no single stock should make up the majority of your portfolio, investing in Nvidia could give future retirees a way to benefit from the massive transition toward AI systems that's currently underway. While the chipmaker doesn't currently pay a meaningful dividend, investors can eventually sell their holdings in retirement to supplement their incomes.

Planning for retirement can be challenging, and as you approach retirement age, it's generally a good idea to reduce your exposure to stocks and other higher-risk investments. While Nvidia's share price may continue to climb in the years ahead, it's important to remember that it's still a tech company, and tech stocks often go through periods of unusual volatility.

This shouldn't be too much of a concern if you've got a long way to go before retirement, but remember that as you age, you'll want to shift the balance of the allocations in your well-diversified portfolio toward less risky holdings.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $640,916!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,090,012!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,052% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 188% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of September 8, 2025

Chris Neiger has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.