How $500 per Month Turns Into $1 Million Generating $40,000 of Passive Income
Key Points
Even modest monthly investments of a few hundred dollars can turn into significant amounts of money over time.
The keys are to keep investing over the course of years and resist the temptation to take out your money early.
Here's your path for finding $500 a month to invest, growing it to $1 million, and then turning it into thousands of dollars of income.
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While having $1 million doesn't mean as much as it used to, earning the title of "millionaire" does still convey a sense of financial independence.
On the surface, the road to building a $1 million portfolio may seem long and daunting. With proper planning, time, and discipline, however, it's not nearly as impossible as it seems. In fact, with just a few hundred dollars a month, you can successfully amass a $1 million nest egg that turns into $40,000 per month or more in passive income.
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Here's your game plan.
Source: Getty Images.
Finding $500 per month to invest
The first step to investing $500 per month is figuring out where that $500 is going to come from.
For someone making $50,000 a year, that would require saving 12% of their salary. Definitely doable, but that can feel like a lot if you're going from zero to $500.
Fortunately, there are a lot of options for where that money can come from:
- Salary contribution: Start here. Even if you can't get to $500 initially, even $200 to $300 per month is a great start.
- 401(k) employer match: If your employer matches retirement plan contributions, that also counts toward your total. A $200 employee contribution that gets a $50 match is half your goal.
- Tax refunds: The average federal tax refund so far this year has been around $3,500. Divided over 12 months, that's around $290 per month that could be combined with other savings.
- Side income: Freelance work or a side gig could boost your budget.
If you break a savings goal into pieces, it's not nearly as intimidating.
Turning $500 per month into $1 million
How that $500 per month turns into $1 million depends mostly on two things: your average annual rate of return and how long it'll be invested. The latter part you can control. The former, you can't.
It's usually best to start with a more modest rate of return assumption. The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) has returned about 10% annually over time, but that's no guarantee of future returns. Best to think conservatively and keep expectations in check.
Here's a table of various rate-of-return and time-frame combinations to see how much that $500 per month can grow to.
| Annual rate of return | 10 years | 15 years | 20 years | 25 years | 30 years | 35 years | 40 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4% | $74K | $123K | $184K | $258K | $348K | $458K | $593K |
| 5% | $78K | $134K | $206K | $299K | $418K | $570K | $766K |
| 6% | $82K | $146K | $232K | $348K | $505K | $716K | $1.00M |
| 7% | $87K | $159K | $262K | $407K | $614K | $906K | $1.32M |
| 8% | $92K | $174K | $296K | $479K | $750K | $1.15M | $1.76M |
| 9% | $97K | $191K | $336K | $565K | $922K | $1.48M | $2.36M |
| 10% | $103K | $209K | $383K | $669K | $1.14M | $1.91M | $3.19M |
| 11% | $109K | $229K | $437K | $795K | $1.42M | $2.49M | $4.34M |
| 12% | $116K | $252K | $500K | $949K | $1.76M | $3.25M | $5.94M |
Source: Author, calculator.net
For example, $500 per month invested for 30 years, earning a 10% average annual return, results in a $1.14 million portfolio. Reduce the return to 9% annually, and the sum total drops to $922,000.
To achieve the $1 million goal, you may need to make adjustments. Save more money. Save for longer. Not everyone has decades to save. The sooner you can make any necessary changes, the better your chances of success.
One suggestion: You probably don't want to assume anything higher than a 10% rate of return. I know that U.S. stocks have done much better than that over the past several years. I know it's possible it could happen again. When planning, however, you don't want to get overoptimistic. It just increases the chances that you'll feel you're falling behind and want to give up.
Turning $1 million into $40,000 of annual passive income
If you've hit your savings goal, it's time to turn that pot of cash into a steady income.
There are three ways you could go about this:
- Use the 4% withdrawal rule to steadily draw down from these savings.
- Try to generate a 4% return annually on the savings and keep the principal intact.
- Some combination of the two.
If you want to stick with more conservative income-producing investments, it's possible to use any number of different options to generate a 4% yield.
- Treasury bills, such as those in the Vanguard 0-3 Month Treasury Bill ETF (NASDAQ: VBIL), can yield 3.5% to 4% on their own.
- Dividend stocks, including the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD), can often net you north of 3%.
- A diversified bond portfolio -- the Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NASDAQ: BND) currently yields 4.3% -- is another option.
The key to making all of this happen, however, is discipline. If you start saving, keep saving, and can leave it alone over time, the elusive $1 million prize isn't so elusive.
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David Dierking has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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