How long do you have to keep money in the S&P 500?
And for a 20-year investment, returns have been 100% positive. But given the possibility for short-term stock market volatility, you should only invest in an S&P 500 index fund if you don't expect that you'll need your money for around five years.
If the S&P 500 outperforms its historical average and generates, say, a 12% annual return, you would reach $1 million in 26 years by investing $500 a month.
Investing $100 a month into an S&P 500 ETF can be a sound long-term investment strategy, especially for those with a lower risk tolerance. The S&P 500 has historically provided average annual returns of around 10%, which means that $100 invested each month could grow to a significant amount over time.
So if you're happy with a portfolio that performs comparably to the stock market as a whole, then sticking to S&P 500 ETFs alone isn't a bad idea. However, if you assemble a portfolio of individual stocks that perform better, you might enjoy a 12% or 15% return over time -- or more.
In 1980, had you invested a mere $1,000 in what went on to become the top-performing stock of S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.63%), then you would be sitting on a cool $1.2 million today. That equates to a total return of 120,936%. The stock? None other than Gap (GPS 4.66%).
Ever since the S&P 500 index was devised, it has built an impeccable track record of earning positive returns over time. In fact, research shows it's actually harder to lose money with the S&P 500 than it is to make money if you keep a long-term outlook.
The truth is that most investors won't have the money to generate $1,000 per month in dividends; not at first, anyway. Even if you find a market-beating series of investments that average 3% annual yield, you would still need $400,000 in up-front capital to hit your targets. And that's okay.
While there are few certainties in the financial world, there's virtually no chance that an index fund will ever lose all of its value. One reason for this is that most index funds are highly diversified. They buy and hold identical weights of each stock in an index, such as the S&P 500.
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.
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.
How much money do I need to invest to make $3000 a month?
Imagine you wish to amass $3000 monthly from your investments, amounting to $36,000 annually. If you park your funds in a savings account offering a 2% annual interest rate, you'd need to inject roughly $1.8 million into the account.
Does the S&P 500 Pay Dividends? The S&P 500 is an index, so it does not pay dividends; however, there are mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that track the index, which you can invest in. If the companies in these funds pay dividends, you'll receive yours based on how many shares of the funds you hold.
Assuming an average annual return rate of about 10% (a typical historical average), a $10,000 investment in the S&P 500 could potentially grow to approximately $25,937 over 10 years.
Investing products such as stocks can have much higher returns than savings accounts and CDs. Over time, the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index (S&P 500), has returned about 10 percent annually, though the return can fluctuate greatly in any given year. Investing products are generally very liquid.
Lower Expected Returns
Significant research has found that small and value companies outperform large growth stocks over the long term. Therefore, you are overweighting one area of the market which has had lower returns over the long term.
Basic Info. S&P 500 10 Year Return is at 174.1%, compared to 171.8% last month and 162.1% last year. This is higher than the long term average of 114.2%.
According to Ramsey's tweet, investing $100 per month for 40 years gives you an account value of $1,176,000. Ramsey's assumptions include a 12% annual rate of return, which some critics have labeled as optimistic given that the long-term average annual return of the S&P 500 index is closer to 10%.
A separate Reuters poll of economists published earlier this week predicted June was the most likely month the Fed would begin cutting. Analysts expect overall S&P 500 earnings to rise 9.5% in 2024 after increasing around 4% in 2023, LSEG data showed.
Capital Economics chief market economist John Higgins predicts the S&P 500 can hit 6,500 by the end of 2025. This outlook is more dependent on the current AI-fueled bubble growing. For now, he maintains the bubble-like trade in the market can bring the benchmark average to 6,500 by the end of 2025.
What is the best month to invest in the S&P 500?
Up Months | |
---|---|
NYSE Composite | March, April, July, October, November, December |
S&P 500 | February March, April, May, July, August, October, November, December |
Nasdaq 100 | January, March, April, May, July, August, October, November, December |
- 7 Proven Ways to Make $5,000-$9,000 Per Month in Passive Income. ...
- Invest in Dividend Stocks. ...
- Invest in Real Estate. ...
- Earn Royalties from a Book, Blog or Podcast. ...
- Build a Profitable Affiliate Marketing Site. ...
- Invest in a High Yield Savings Account. ...
- Profit from Online Courses or Coaching. ...
- License Your Inventions.
Buy the index or pick individual stocks for passive income
Right now, the average dividend yield on the S&P/TSX 60 Index is around 3.11%. If you just bought the index, you would need to invest $154,340 to earn an average of $400 per month. Fortunately, you can do even better by picking individual stocks.
Ideally, you should stay invested in equity index funds for the long run, i.e., at least 7 years. That is because investing in any equity instrument for the short-term is fraught with risks. And as we saw, the chances of getting positive returns improve when you give time to your investments.
The main drawback to the S&P 500 is that the index gives higher weights to companies with more market capitalization. The stock prices for Apple and Microsoft have a much greater influence on the index than a company with a lower market cap.
References
- https://www.etmoney.com/blog/how-long-can-we-invest-in-index-funds/
- https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/sp-500-end-2024-with-small-gain-after-strong-2023-2024-02-22/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/got-%24500-a-month-to-invest-heres-how-the-sp-500-could-make-you-a-millionaire
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/071616/history-sp-500-dividend-yield.asp
- https://talkmarkets.com/content/how-much-money-do-i-need-to-invest-to-make-3000-a-month?post=431352
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-interest-earn-1-million-150000229.html
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/genius-ways-1-000-month-105500970.html
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/barclays-believes-the-sp-500-could-hit-6000-soon--and-its-not-alone-190849325.html
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/saving-vs-investing/
- https://www.fool.ca/2023/10/03/how-much-should-you-invest-to-earn-400-month-in-passive-income/
- https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/articles/heres-what-happens-when-you-only-invest-in-sp-500-etfs/
- https://ycharts.com/indicators/sp_500_10_year_return
- https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/09/21/the-best-performing-stock-on-the-sp-500-since-1980.aspx
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/more-money-investing-10-000-220010726.html
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011316/pros-and-cons-indexes.asp
- https://tradethatswing.com/seasonal-patterns-of-the-stock-market/
- https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/06/canindexfundsgounder.asp
- https://www.financialsymmetry.com/5-reasons-to-consider-not-only-investing-in-the-sp-500-ep-209/
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2024/01/27/is-right-now-a-good-time-to-invest-in-the-sp-500-h/
- https://www.quora.com/Is-it-worth-investing-100-dollars-monthly-in-S-P-500-ETF-for-a-long-term-investment
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/is-the-sp-500-all-you-need-to-retire-a-millionaire-12
- https://medium.com/@Levente22/7-proven-ways-to-make-5-000-9-000-per-month-in-passive-income-1aafbf025154
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/dave-ramsey:-invest-$100-a-month-to-become-a-millionaire-in-retirement
- https://primexbt.com/for-traders/s-p-500-price-prediction-forecast/