You probably already know successful investing creates millionaires, so you ask the right next question: “When will I be a millionaire?”
I will be a millionaire by the time I turn 37 through passive index fund investing, assuming a 7% average annual rate of return. Although because I intend to help my mom retire, I must expedite that timeline and become a millionaire by the time I turn 30.
From one future millionaire to another, discover when your investments will make you a millionaire with your free millionaire calculator.Please note I am not a licensed financial advisor. This information is for education purposes only. Every person has a unique financial situation. The best approach will be different for everyone. Accordingly, do your own due diligence before making any financial decision.
When will I be a millionaire?
When you’ll become a millionaire depends on several variables including time, amount already invested, future investments, and your average annual rate of return.
Out of all those variables, time has the greatest impact on your ability to build wealth. When it comes to passive index fund investing, time does all the heavy lifting for you.
To illustrate that, here’s billionaire Warren Buffett’s net worth growth over time. The magic of investing comes from compound interest, which requires time to fuel the exponential growth.
Here’s a table estimating when you will become a millionaire based on time and your monthly investments. This assumes a 7% average annual rate of return and you don’t currently have any money already invested.
From this table, you can see again that time in the market matters most.
| Time | Estimated monthly investment |
| 60 years | $100 |
| 50 years | $200 |
| 40 years | $400 |
| 30 years | $800 |
| 20 years | $1,900 |
| 10 years | $5,800 |
| 5 years | $14,000 |
Free Millionaire Calculator
Because your current financial situation may differ from the above scenarios, you can download your free millionaire calculator to customize your millionaire math.You can input your current investment value, monthly investments, and the average annual rate of return to figure out when you’re on track to become a millionaire.
If you’re like me and you want to become a millionaire at a certain time, you can also estimate what monthly investment that requires.
That’s how I know I need to double my income to reach my millionaire goals on my timeline.
The Millionaire Calculator uses time value of money calculations to estimate the future value of your investments.
Download your free millionaire calculator.How can I become a millionaire faster?
If the millionaire calculator results suggest you won’t become a millionaire on the timeline you want, like it does for me, you can take steps to get there faster. Although, to reach this goal faster, it requires active work, instead of just passive investing.
You’ll need to invest more. How much you can invest depends on the difference between your incomes and expenses.
Both your incomes and expenses impact the metric that matters most: your save rate. Your save rate is the percentage of your income that you don’t spend, but invest.
To increase your save rate, you can increase your incomes and/or decrease your spending.
There’s a limit to how much spending you can cut, but there’s no limit on how much money you can earn.
Accordingly, I focus on spending intentionally, always less than I earn. When I do increase my earnings, I avoid increasing my expenses by the same amount because I refuse to let lifestyle inflation steal my wealth.
But because I already have good spending habits, I don’t focus on budgeting. Sure, I could spend less, but it would make my life less enjoyable and it wouldn’t help me become a millionaire significantly faster.
Instead I focus on increasing my incomes. When I do increase my incomes, I invest most of the increase. I call this process my money making loop. Earn, invest, grow wealth, repeat.
An unlimited number of ways to increase your income exist. Most of them are not passive initially, although with outsourcing, you could turn the income stream passive in the future.
Here’s a list of ways I have or have considered increasing my income:
- Switch jobs to a higher paying role [done]
- Switch companies to a higher paying role [done]
- Negotiate compensation [done]
- Work a second job [done]
- Start a side hustle [done]
- Start a business [done]
- Buy a business [consider]
- Invest in real estate [considered, but decided against]
- Freelance [done]
If you want more inspiration, check out 99 “passive” income ideas here.
Conclusion
When you become a millionaire will depend on how much you already have invested, your monthly investments, and your average annual rate of return. You can estimate when you’ll become a millionaire based on your unique financial landscape by using the free Millionaire Calculator.
Download your free millionaire calculator.If you want to become a millionaire faster, you’ll need to invest more. To invest more, you can find ways to increase your save rate either by increasing your income and/or decreasing your spending.
Once you have good spending habits established, making more money will have a bigger impact on your progress because there’s no limit to how much you can earn.
If you found the Millionaire Calculator helpful, we’d love it if you shared it on TikTok, Instagram, or Pinterest and tagged us. Let us know when you’ll become a millionaire!
