If You Have Only $100 per Month To Invest, Here’s the Age You’d Have To Start To Have $1 Million by Retirement

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Investing requires time and money. But if you have more time than money available, it’s still worthwhile to start investing.

In fact, even if you have only $100 per month to spare, you can still retire with $1 million in the bank. Here’s a breakdown of how that works, and details on when you would need to start investing $100 per month to get there.

Also see how long $1 million in retirement will last in every state.

How Investing Returns Impact Retirement Savings

When you’re looking to invest for retirement, what you choose to invest in has an impact on the growth of your investment portfolio. While some investments offer safe, consistent returns (such as high-yield savings accounts and U.S. Treasurys), others offer higher returns in exchange for more volatility.

Higher risk can help you earn higher returns — but you need to make sure you can hold on to an investment for the long term and not sell when the price drops due to market volatility. For example, the stock market historically has averaged around 10% annual returns historically, but it can see significant drops during economic downturns.

If you have only $100 to invest and want to reach $1 million by retirement, you’ll likely need to invest in higher-risk investments. You can diversify through choosing to invest in index funds or other mutual funds that hold hundreds (or even thousands) of stocks in a single fund. But expect your portfolio to go up and down with the market.

How To Turn $100 per Month Into $1 Million

Now that you’ve considered what to invest in, you need to determine how long it will actually take to retire with $1 million invested. If you can invest only $100 per month for your entire working career, you’ll need to start early. But compound interest will likely do the heavy lifting in your later years.

Let’s take a look at the numbers to turn a $100 per month investment into $1 million.

• Starting amount: $0
• Monthly contributions: $100
• Annual interest rate: 10%
• Years until $1 million: 47 years

According to the Securities and Exchange Commission calculator, it would take 47 years to get to $1 million based on a 10% annual return and investing just $100 per month. But if your investments don’t return 10%, it could take longer. 

Let’s say your portfolio returns just 7% over your lifetime. Here’s how long it might take to get to $1 million:

• Starting amount: $0
• Monthly contributions: $100
• Annual interest rate: 7%
• Years until $1 million: 61 years

As you can see, choosing a more conservative investment approach takes much longer to become a millionaire.

At What Age Do You Need To Start To Retire With $1 Million?

So now that you know how long it might take to turn $100 into $1 million, when should you start investing?

If we assume that you want to retire at the current traditional retirement age of 67 years old, this means you need to subtract how long it takes to reach $1 million from age 67.

For example, if you invest $100 per month at a 10% return that compounds annually, it’ll take around 47 years to reach $1 million. This means you’d need to start investing at age 20 to reach $1 million in your retirement portfolio at age 67.

But if you get only a 7% return on your portfolio, you’ll need your parents to start investing for you when you turn 6 years old to have $1 million by the time you’re 67.

As you can see, to reach the $1 million milestone by retirement, it takes time and higher returns. But most likely, as you age, you’ll begin investing more each month. With annual pay raises, potential promotions, and expenses getting lower as kids move out and the mortgage is paid off, you can boost your retirement savings in later years.

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