The headline for this article is pretty enticing -- just $10 per day and you could retire a millionaire! I have some good news and some bad news for you, though. First, the good: Someone investing $10 per day, which is $3,650 per year, can amass a million dollars by retirement. Now the bad: It will take a long time.
Still, read on because even if you don't have a very long time before you retire, you may be able to amass far more than you thought you could.
Image source: Getty Images.
How to amass a million dollars
Let's start with some math showing you how money can grow over time, depending on how much you invest and for how long. I will use an annual growth rate of 8% because over many decades, the stock market has averaged annual gains of close to 10%. So I'm being a bit conservative -- though, of course, it might turn out that I wasn't conservative enough.
|
Growing at 8% for |
$3,650 invested annually |
|---|---|
|
5 years |
$23,126 |
|
10 years |
$57,106 |
|
15 years |
$107,034 |
|
20 years |
$180,394 |
|
25 years |
$288,184 |
|
30 years |
$446,562 |
|
35 years |
$679,273 |
|
40 years |
$1,021,201 |
Data source: Calculations by author.
See? It can be done -- $1 million amassed with the equivalent of $10 per day. The annoying thing about it is that it takes 40 years. If you're reading this at age 32, this could work for you. You might do it and retire at age 72 with that million.
Most of us, though, don't have 40 years before we retire. So here are some more scenarios to consider, in the table below, showing how much faster your money can grow if you can sock away more than $10 per day. Know that $7,500 invested annually is about $20.55 per day, and $15,000 is about $41 per day.
|
Growing at 8% for |
$7,500 invested annually |
$15,000 invested annually |
|---|---|---|
|
5 years |
$47,519 |
$95,039 |
|
10 years |
$117,341 |
$234,682 |
|
15 years |
$219,932 |
$439,864 |
|
20 years |
$370,672 |
$741,344 |
|
25 years |
$592,158 |
$1,184,316 |
|
30 years |
$917,594 |
$1,835,188 |
|
35 years |
$1,395,766 |
$2,791,532 |
|
40 years |
$2,098,358 |
$4,196,716 |
Data source: Calculations by author.
Effective investing to reach a million dollars
Next, think about how you'll invest over all those years. Yes, you might chase growth stocks, but they don't always work out well. To play it safer, you might plunk most or all of your long-term dollars in one or more low-fee index funds. Many index funds are structured as exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that trade on exchanges like stocks and passively track a particular index -- such as the S&P 500 -- holding the same stocks as the index and aiming to deliver roughly the same return.
Here are three very broad and basic ones to consider:
- Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO -0.07%): S&P 500 index funds such as this one are focused on 500 of the biggest companies in America, which together make up about 80% of the entire U.S. market.
- Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI -0.10%): This ETF encompasses nearly all of the U.S. stock market, spreading your money across more than 3,500 stocks, not just 500. It includes lots of small companies, too.
- Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT 0.14%): This ETF encompasses just about all the stocks in the world -- more than 9,700 stocks -- all in one easy, low-fee investment.
If you want to aim for faster growth, perhaps devote some portion of your portfolio to some more aggressive ETFs. Below are some past returns for the ETFs above and some potentially faster growers:
|
ETF |
5-Year Avg. Annual Return |
10-Year Avg. Annual Return |
15-Year Avg. Annual Return |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO) |
15.29% |
13.76% |
N/A |
|
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) |
14.53% |
13.12% |
13.96% |
|
Vanguard Total World Stock ETF (VT) |
12.45% |
10.27% |
10.13% |
|
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG) |
12.35% |
12.13% |
12.51% |
|
Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM) |
13.55% |
10.56% |
12.13% |
|
Vanguard Information Technology ETF (VGT) |
18.85% |
21.78% |
19.79% |
|
Vanguard Growth ETF (VUG) |
16.14% |
16.44% |
16.59% |
|
Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG) |
15.84% |
15.93% |
N/A |
|
Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) |
16.79% |
17.29% |
17.17% |
Data source: Morningstar.com, as of Aug. 7, 2025.
Just remember that these returns above are partly due to the overall market performing strongly. There will be periods of slower growth and even some down years for the funds above.
Will a million dollars be enough for you?
Finally, keep inflation in mind. If you're investing for 40 years and inflation averages about 3% annually, that's enough to shrink your money's purchasing power by some 70% during that period. So if you think you'd need $1 million to retire today, you might want to aim for $3 million or more.
For the best results, take some time to develop a solid retirement plan, and follow through on it to have a comfortable financial future.
