I Want to Invest More in 2024. Here's How I Plan to Do It

In 2024, I hope to put more money into my brokerage account. After focusing on other financial goals this year, like buying a house, I'm eager to switch my focus toward more long-term goals like getting more money into the stock market where I can earn better returns.

Finding more cash to invest isn't always easy, though. Here's how I'm planning to do it, and the steps I'm taking to make sure I can accomplish my goal.

This is the most important step I'm taking to try to invest more

I want to invest around $5,000 more in my brokerage accounts this year, which is a lot of money. But it's well worth the effort since that $5,000 can grow into quite a lot over time as the table below shows (it assumes a 10% average annual return, which is what the S&P 500 has pretty consistently produced over time).

I'm excited to end up with all that extra cash in my account over time. And in order to make it happen, I am going to make one key move. I'm going to work on increasing my income.

To invest an extra $5,000 over 2024, I'll need to find about $416.66 more per month. Now, I could try to cut spending to do that. Unfortunately, reducing my spending by that much would be really difficult. And I can't cut my housing expenses because I have a mortgage and I'm not going to move.

I could try to eat out less and spend less on entertainment, but none of that is likely to give me enough. In fact, the average American spends about $166 per month per person dining out, and my family of four comes pretty close to that -- so we'd need to basically give up restaurant meals for an entire year, which is probably not going to happen.

Rather than trying to deprive myself throughout the entire year -- and probably ending up not being able to do it because cutting so much from spending is so hard -- I'd rather work on trying to increase my income.

Increasing income means working a little more, but there's theoretically no limit on how much a person can earn each month (depending on the time available). It can be a whole lot easier to put in a few extra hours each month on the job, rather than spending 30 or 31 days struggling to spend less and sacrificing every day.

In fact, since the average side hustle brings in around $483 per month, almost anyone willing to do a little extra work could join me in trying to end 2024 with $5,000 more in a brokerage account (or put toward whatever financial goal they find important).

I'll also be automating the process

There's also another step I'm going to take to make sure I invest my desired amount. I'm going to automate the process. Once I'm confident I can earn an extra $417 a month, I'll be having the money transferred on the day I get paid right from my checking account to my brokerage account. That way, I won't be tempted to spend the extra cash I worked so hard to earn to set myself up for a secure future.

If you want to accomplish any financial goals in this coming year, consider taking these steps yourself. Whether you work some overtime, find a side job, or try to raise the rate you charge for freelance work, look for ways to earn a little more this year and put it toward something that matters to you.