Founded in 1993, The Motley Fool is a financial services company dedicated to making the world smarter, happier, and richer. The Motley Fool reaches millions of people every month through our premium investing solutions, free guidance and market analysis on Fool.com, top-rated podcasts, and non-profit The Motley Fool Foundation. Divide 72 by the annual rate of return to figure how long it will take to double your money. For example, if you earn an 8 percent annual return, it will take about 9 years to double.

No matter how you plan to double your money, get started now

If your employer matches contributions to your retirement plan, take advantage of that perk. Invest in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds and consider being a contrarian when the market plunges lower or rockets higher. Save on a regular basis to buy a house and keep the down payment in a savings account or other relatively risk-free investment. If you’re looking to double your money in any reasonable time frame, you’ll need to take some risk. You simply won’t be able to earn enough from safe bank products to reach that goal.

For short-term earnings look to higher-risk investments

Nor does it account for the losses you’ll incur from any taxes you have to pay on your investment gains. The right strategy for doubling your money depends on how quickly you need to do it, as well as your appetite for risk. If you’re willing to take on more risk, you have the opportunity for more growth in a shorter timeframe. Maybe you’re nearing retirement, or you need to cover unexpected costs or medical expenses. It could also be that your salary hasn’t kept up with inflation or the higher consumer prices we’re dealing with in today’s economy. Whatever it is, there are ways to do it — and even double your money, in some cases.

1. Compound interest will always double your money given enough time.
2. It’s called the Rule of 72 and can be applied to any investment.
3. If you prefer to play it safe, bonds can be a less hair-raising journey to the same destination.
4. So get started now, and get your plans in place to double your money as many times as you can.

ways to double your money, according to financial experts

An additional benefit of using EE bonds is that they’re exempt from state and local taxes, but you’ll still have to pay federal income tax on the interest earned. Even the most unadventurous investor knows that there comes a time when you must buy—not because everyone is getting in on a good thing, but because everyone is getting out. Let Unbiased match you with an SEC-regulated https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/deducting-startup-and-expansion-costs/ financial advisor now. Just remember that playing the long game in this case also means doing plenty of research, selecting your property carefully, and not signing up for mortgage payments that you can’t afford. It’s easy to buy an S&P 500 index fund and you don’t need a lot of expertise to invest this way. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned.

What’s the single best way to double your money?

If there’s a downside, it’s that some companies do require you to remain employed for a certain period of time, often three or four years, before those matching funds are fully vested. “Expert verified” means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced.

With that in mind, these four proven ways to double your money may be able to get you on track to get there faster. If you’re like most of us, your primary goal as an investor is to turn a little bit of money today into more money in the future, to cover expenses you’ll have down the road. Doubling your money is a great goal, and the more times you can do that over the course of your investing career, the better off you’ll wind up in the end. Higher-risk options can include options like cryptocurrency, day trading or investing in businesses and startups. With traditional savings accounts, for example, your opportunities for growing your cash are limited (the average APY is a mere 0.42% right now).

Doing so should give you a decent chance of having one outstanding performer (or many) and having your winners far offset your losers. Few of us have saved enough for retirement, so most of us should be actively saving and investing for the future. Ideally, we will double however much we have saved by now, and then double it again and again. The risk-return tradeoff refers to the fact that there is a strong positive correlation between risk and return. The higher the expected returns from an investment, the greater the risk; the lower the expected returns, the lower the risk.

This is a short article which explains if $20 an hour is considered good money and how much it works out to annually. Having a yard or garage sale is an easy way to clear the junk in your house while earning extra cash for what you no longer want or need. When selling, it also helps to conduct research online so that you know the value of your items and can what is job order costing label them appropriately. By selling used items, online or in-person, you can easily and cumulatively earn over $1,000 in cash value. First, you can use the Rule of 72 to determine how much college might cost in 18 years if tuition increases by an average of 4% per year. Divide 72 by 4% and you know that college costs are going to double every 18 years.

We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Instead of purchasing a bond that rewards you with a regular interest payment, you buy a bond at a discount to its eventual value at maturity. We do not manage client funds or hold custody of assets, we help users connect with relevant financial https://www.kelleysbookkeeping.com/ advisors. While there may be extended phases of low return, the S&P 500 tends to deliver a return of around 10% over longer periods. Starting your own business can also have tax advantages, but you may need to consult an accountant to ensure you’re taking advantage of everything you’re allowed to.

Better still, since many companies offer matching 401(k) contributions, if you invest at least enough to max out that match, you’ll be collecting as much free money as you can from your company. In addition, a retired individual in their 60s with a decent pension and no mortgage or other liabilities probably would have a reasonable amount of risk tolerance. Your investing time horizon is an extremely important determinant of the amount of investment risk that you can handle and is generally dependent on your age and investment objectives. For example, a young professional likely has a long investment horizon, so they can take on a significant amount of risk because time is on their side when it comes to bouncing back from any losses.

Investing in real estate offers multiple ways of doubling your money. The big advantage of investing in real estate is the easy access to low-interest leverage through mortgage or other real estate loans. That means your cash investment can be relatively small compared to the asset value.