If you are 18 years old and want to be a millionaire, all you have to do is 3 simple things.
3 Step to $1 million:
Open an online brokerage account (Fidelity or Charles Schwab) with $100.
Add $86 per month to the account until retirement.
Invest the $100 and each $86 deposit in the S&P 500 ETF bundle (ticker symbol: SPY) and reinvest dividends received.
If the S&P 500 produces the same average annual profit in the future as it has since its inception in 1957, then your account will be worth about $1 million at retirement.
“It can’t be that easy?”
“If it were that simple, everyone would do it.”
These are two common responses when I tell people the “secret” to being a millionaire. They think I am either crazy or brilliant. Regardless of my mental condition, the math is accurate and can be confirmed with the free investment calculator available on bankrate.com.
This strategy is so productive because it delivers the market profits of an evolving group of 500 great US businesses while minimizing the profit killers of income taxes and transaction costs.
If, however, you delay by 15 years to open the account with $100, contribute the same $86 per month and buy the identical S&P 500 ETF bundle, you end up with only about $245,000 at retirement age. $750,000 LESS!
If you are a parent or grandparent, open an account for your child or grandchild as young as possible. For example, if an investment program is started for a 10-year old with the goal of being a millionaire, all it takes is the initial $100 deposit and only $42 per month to be a millionaire at retirement age. The required $42 monthly deposit is less than half of the $86 per month for someone who starts at 18 years of age simply because the account accumulates profits over a longer time period.
Anyone can be a millionaire, but most are never taught how to do it. Yet, the secret is in plain sight.
Roadside Scholar Tip: Do not wait one day past your 18th birthday to start down the road to being a millionaire. Red Alert – Delay is Expensive.
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For more information and easy to understand explanations of important money matters go to www.theroadsidescholar.com or purchase The Roadside Scholar: Amazing Money Lessons from Behind the Fence.