You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth: How Investing $50–$250 a Month Helps You Get Rich

The biggest myth that keeps you from building wealth is the idea that you don’t have enough money to invest or that you don’t have enough money to make investing worthwhile:

According to one study by Twine, 46% of Millennials believe that they need at least $1,000 to start investing, and 17% of Millennials believe that they need at least $10,000 to start investing.

Fidelity Financial Procrastination Study reports that 48% of those who procrastinate on investing do so because they don’t think they have enough money to invest, and 30% don’t think they’ll ever be able to save enough no matter how much they invest.
Another survey by GoBankingRates reports that 55% of non-investors said that they don’t invest because they don’t believe that they have enough money.
The average person procrastinates on investing until age 33.

If you procrastinate on investing because you don’t think your income is high enough to make investing worthwhile, you’re actually wasting your biggest wealth-building asset: time. Your biggest wealth-building tool is the amount of time that your money is invested, not necessarily the amount of money you invest, which is why you can start building wealth even if you earn a lower income.

The truth is that you don’t need thousands of dollars to start investing: Just investing $50 to $250 a month could make a substantial difference to your financial future, especially if you start investing early.

Time is your best wealth building asset.

It’s one thing to be told that time matters more than money when it comes to building wealth—it’s another to see that principle in action. Let’s take a look at two scenarios that demonstrate how time can be far more powerful than money when it comes to actually building your wealth.

If you invest $50 a month for 42 years and get a 10% average rate of return, you will have contributed $25,200 over the course of those 42 years, but your money could grow to an incredible $387,214:

A line graph shows monthly $50 contributions after 42 years with a 10% rate of return.

On the other hand, if you wait until very late in life to start investing, and you invest $500 per month for 10 years with a 10% rate of return, you will have contributed $60,000 but your money might only grow to $102,422 by the end of that time period:

A line graph shows how monthly contributions of $500 grow after 10 years with a 10% rate of return.

These two scenarios show that you absolutely have the potential to build substantial wealth on a lower income and that you should start investing today if you want to maximize the amount of wealth that you can build.

And if you make a lower income, you don’t have to wait until you earn a higher income because of fractional shares, which allow you to invest whatever dollar amount you want, so you don’t have to buy a whole share if you can’t afford it. Because of fractional shares, you can invest as little as $1 at a time, so you can start your wealth building journey no matter your income level.

If you don’t have a lot of money left over each month to invest, you can still start your wealth building journey with whatever money you have. Read on to see how investing $50, $100, $150, $200, or $250 a month could make a massive difference to your financial future.

How investing $50 a month helps you build wealth

While you don’t want to stop at just investing $50 a month if you can afford to invest more than that, a monthly $50 investment contribution is still a powerful way to start building wealth—especially if you start investing early.

If you start investing in your 20s, $50 a month could potentially translate to having as much as $250k or even $750k by the time you reach age 62, depending on the age you start investing and your rate of return. But remember, that’s more of a best-case scenario—when you invest, you always want to hope for a high rate of return but plan for a lower rate of return.

This chart shows that you do not need to earn a high income to start your wealth building journey:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $50 a Month in Your 20s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 20 $152,185 $206,024 $387,214 $748,255
21 $141,347 $189,660 $349,942 $663,476
22 $131,240 $174,550 $316,203 $588,238
23 $121,815 $160,598 $285,663 $521,469
24 $113,024 $147,715 $258,017 $462,214
25 $462,214 $135,820 $232,991 $409,629
26 $97,182 $124,836 $210,338 $362,962
27 $90,052 $114,694 $189,831 $321,547
28 $83,403 $105,329 $171,269 $284,794
29 $77,203 $96,682 $154,466 $252,178

Once you enter your 30s, investing $50 a month won’t be nearly as powerful as it could have been in your 20s, and you definitely will want to start investing more than $50 a month as soon as possible. However, investing $50 a month is far better than nothing and can still jumpstart your wealth building journey if you have a very tight budget:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $50 a Month in Your 30s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 30 $71,420 $88,697 $139,256 $223,232
31 $66,027 $81,325 $125,487 $197,544
32 $60,998 $74,517 $113,024 $174,748
33 $56,308 $68,232 $101,742 $154,517
34 $51,934 $62,428 $91,529 $136,563
35 $47,855 $57,069 $82,285 $120,630
36 $44,051 $52,120 $73,916 $106,490
37 $40,503 $47,551 $66,341 $93,942
38 $37,195 $43,332 $59,484 $82,806
39 $34,109 $39,436 $53,277 $72,923

How investing $100 a month helps you build wealth

And if you invest $100 a month starting in your 20s, you could potentially have over $500k or even up to almost 1.5 million in the best-case scenario by the time you retire depending on your rate of return and the age you start investing:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $100 a Month in Your 20s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 20 $304,370 $412,049 $774,429 $1,496,511
21 $282,695 $379,320 $699,885 $1,326,952
22 $262,481 $349,100 $632,407 $1,176,477
23 $243,630 $321,196 $571,326 $1,042,938
24 $226,049 $295,431 $516,034 $924,429
25 $209,654 $271,640 $465,982 $819,258
26 $194,364 $249,672 $420,676 $725,924
27 $180,105 $229,388 $379,663 $643,095
28 $166,807 $210,658 $342,538 $569,589
29 $154,406 $193,364 $308,933 $504,356

And if you’re in your 30s, $100 a month could still potentially grow to over $100k or even up to several hundred thousand dollars by the time you reach age 62, depending on your rate of return and the specific age you start investing:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $100 a Month in Your 30s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 30 $142,841 $177,395 $278,512 $446,465
31 $132,055 $162,650 $250,975 $395,089
32 $121,997 $149,035 $226,048 $349,496
33 $112,616 $136,464 $203,484 $309,034
34 $103,868 $124,856 $183,059 $273,127
35 $95,710 $114,138 $164,570 $241,261
36 $88,102 $104,241 $147,833 $212,981
37 $81,007 $95,102 $132,683 $187,884
38 $74,390 $86,664 $118,969 $165,612
39 $68,219 $78,873 $106,554 $145,847

How investing $150 a month helps you build wealth

If you can invest $150 a month in your 20s and if you get a high rate of return, you could potentially have over 1 million dollars or even potentially up to 2 million by the time you turn 62:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $150 a Month in Your 20s Could Grow by Age 62
Chart heading: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 20 $456,556 $618,074 $1,161,644 $2,244,766
21 $424,043 $568,981 $1,049,828 $1,990,428
22 $393,722 $523,651 $948,611 $1,764,715
23 $365,445 $481,794 $856,989 $1,564,407
24 $339,074 $443,146 $774,051 $1,386,643
25 $314,481 $407,460 $698,974 $1,228,887
26 $291,546 $374,508 $631,014 $1,088,887
27 $270,158 $344,082 $569,495 $964,643
28 $250,211 $315,988 $513,808 $854,384
29 $231,609 $290,046 $463,399 $756,534

Even if you’re in your 30s, $150 a month could potentially translate to as much as $250k to over $500k by the time you turn 62, depending on your rate of return and the age you start investing:

FIRE for Normal People
Title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $150 a Month in Your 30s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 30 $214,261 $266,093 $417,768 $669,697
31 $198,083 $243,976 $376,463 $592,634
32 $182,995 $223,553 $339,073 $524,244
33 $168,925 $204,696 $305,227 $463,552
34 $155,803 $187,284 $274,589 $409,690
35 $143,565 $171,207 $246,855 $361,891
36 $132,153 $156,361 $221,750 $319,472
37 $121,510 $142,653 $199,025 $281,826
38 $111,585 $129,996 $178,453 $248,418
39 $102,329 $118,309 $159,832 $218,770

How investing $200 a month helps you build wealth

This is where things really start to get exciting. If you can invest $200 a month starting in your 20s and if you get a higher rate of return, you could potentially have up to 1–3 million dollars by the time you reach 62:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $200 a Month in Your 20s Could Grow by Age 62
Column titles: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 20 $608,741 $824,098 $1,548,859 $2,993,022
21 $565,390 $758,641 $1,399,771 $2,653,904
22 $524,962 $698,201 $1,264,815 $2,352,954
23 $487,260 $642,393 $1,142,652 $2,085,876
24 $452,099 $590,862 $1,032,068 $1,848,858
25 $419,308 $543,280 $931,965 $1,638,517
26 $388,729 $499,344 $841,352 $1,451,849
27 $360,210 $458,776 $759,327 $1,286,191
28 $333,615 $421,317 $685,077 $1,139,178
29 $308,812 $386,729 $617,866 $1,008,712

And if you invest $200 a month in your 30s, you could potentially build over $250k to almost $900k by age 62, depending on your rate of return and the age you start investing:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $200 a Month in Your 30s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 30 $285,682 $354,791 $557,025 $892,930
31 $264,111 $325,301 $501,951 $790,179
32 $243,994 $298,071 $452,097 $698,992
33 $225,233 $272,928 $406,969 $618,069
34 $207,737 $249,712 $366,118 $546,254
35 $191,421 $228,276 $329,140 $482,522
36 $176,204 $208,482 $295,667 $425,962
37 $162,014 $190,205 $265,366 $331,225
38 $136,438 $157,746 $213,109 $291,694
39 $124,929 $143,357 $190,634 $256,613

How investing $250 a month helps you build wealth

Investing $250 a month puts you on track to meet your most important investing goal—reaching $100k in investments—in 15 years if you can get a 10% rate of return.

If you can invest $250 a month in your 20s, you’re setting yourself up for a fantastic financial future. Depending on the age you start investing and your rate of return, your money could potentially grow to between 1 million and 3 million dollars by the time you turn 62:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $250 a Month in Your 20s Could Grow by Age 62
Column headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 20 $760,926 $1,030,123 $1,936,074 $3,741,278
21 $706,738 $948,302 $1,749,714 $3,317,380
22 $656,203 $872,751 $1,581,019 $2,941,193
23 $609,075 $802,991 $1,428,315 $2,607,345
24 $565,124 $738,577 $1,290,085 $2,311,073
25 $524,136 $679,100 $1,164,957 $2,048,146
26 $485,911 $624,180 $1,051,690 $1,814,812
27 $450,263 $573,470 $949,159 $1,607,739
28 $417,019 $526,646 $856,347 $1,423,973
29 $386,015 $483,411 $772,332 $1,260,890

And if you start investing $250 a month in your 30s, your money could potentially grow to $250k, $500k, $750k, or even up to 1 million dollars by the time you turn 62, depending on the age you start investing and the rate of return you get:

FIRE for Normal People
Chart title: You Don’t Need a High Income to Build Wealth:
How Investing $250 a Month in Your 30s Could Grow by Age 62
Chart headers: Age 7% rate of return 8% rate of return 10% rate of return 12% rate of return
Chart data: 30 $357,102 $443,489 $696,281 $1,116,162
31 $330,138 $406,627 $627,439 $987,723
32 $304,992 $372,589 $565,121 $873,741
33 $281,541 $341,161 $508,711 $772,587
34 $259,672 $312,141 $457,648 $682,818
35 $239,276 $285,345 $411,425 $603,152
36 $220,256 $260,602 $369,583 $532,453
37 $202,517 $237,756 $331,708 $469,711
38 $185,975 $216,661 $297,422 $414,031
39 $170,548 $197,182 $266,387 $364,618

What if you’re already investing $50–$250 a month?

Investing anything in your 20s puts you far ahead of the curve when it comes to building wealth. But it’s always a good idea to invest as much as you can when you’re young, so if you’re in your 20s and you have the margin in your budget to invest beyond $50–250 a month, you absolutely should do so.

And while investing $50–$250 a month is a powerful way to jumpstart your wealth-building journey, these amounts shouldn’t be the end goal if you’re 30+. If you’re in your 30s, you should consider setting a goal to increase your contributions beyond this $50–$250 range to make sure that you’re on track with your retirement savings goals.

Ultimately, you want to invest at least 20% of your income (including your employer match) for retirement. If you want to make sure that you’re on track to meet your investing goals, check out these articles:

What if you don’t have $50–$250 to invest each month?

If you earn a very low income, you probably don’t have $50–$250 to invest each month, so traditional savings challenges (which ask you to save a specific dollar amount per paycheck, per week, or per month) might not work at your income level.

That’s why I love the reverse savings challenge: Instead of asking you to save money that you don’t have, the reverse savings challenge helps you set a goal for how many more hours to work per week to meet your savings goal.

If you earn a lower income and want to do a reverse savings challenge, I wrote this next article just for you: How to Save $50–$250 a Month When You Make $12, $15, or $17 an Hour.

Investing $50–$250 can be a powerful way to start your wealth-building journey. If you start investing when you’re very young, investing $50–$250 a month could potentially lead to as much as a million-dollar or multi-million-dollar net worth by the time you reach 62.