You don’t need to start a business, win the lottery, or be born into a wealthy family to get rich. All you need is time, perseverance, and some guidance from others.
Former investment banker and personal finance expert Nischa Shah said in a self-media program that the easiest way to become a millionaire is to transfer a fixed amount of money to an investment account every month and leave it untouched for 20 or 30 years to reap the benefits.
Start investing from as little as $100 a month (in dollars, pounds, euros, etc.), and over time, you can see significant returns with almost no effort. You don’t need to constantly monitor the screen; just invest a fixed amount each month and let compound interest do the heavy lifting for you.
Nischa shared that despite working in the finance industry from the start, she knew nothing about managing finances and had little savings after working for a long time. What truly changed her was not a book or a finance video, but witnessing a colleague being laid off.
She mentioned, “She was sitting next to me one day, and the next day she was unemployed. There was no warning. I remember sitting there afterwards, thinking that could easily have been me. I always took my salary for granted, as if it would always be there, as if it was guaranteed. And at that moment, I suddenly realized that it wasn’t the case. Everything I relied on for my livelihood could change overnight. So, I decided to take more control.”
She started with the least exciting thing – building an emergency fund. Initially, she didn’t set high goals, only aiming to save enough for one month’s living expenses. After reaching that goal, she continued to strive, transitioning from one month’s expenses to three, and then to six months.
This small safety net had significant meaning. She said, “I knew I wanted to start investing, but I also knew that if I lost my job and had no cushion, no financial safety net, I’d have to liquidate my investments to pay the bills. This is often why people end up undoing years of accumulation during a bad month. It’s this emergency fund that makes investing truly secure.”
You might think that investing is only for the wealthy, but Nischa suggests that regular people can start investing by setting aside a small amount from their income.
Assuming you invest only $100 at the beginning of this month, buying a simple low-cost index fund with an average annual return of 10% calculated monthly compounded. Of course, returns are not guaranteed. The market doesn’t grow steadily in a straight line, and depending on your investment approach, you may also need to consider taxes and fees. But for simplicity’s sake, let’s assume a long-term average return of 10%.
After two years, your total investment would be $2,400, and your portfolio would be approximately $2,666. This means the growth is only $266. The reason for the modest growth is that in the early stages of your investment, most of the work is done by yourself. Almost all the money in your account is your own. Therefore, initial growth is hardly noticeable; it may feel like you’re putting in effort without much return and even find your account balance lower than the invested amount.
Nischa emphasized, “Seeing a downturn in your investment portfolio doesn’t mean you did something wrong. It’s just part of the investment process. So, don’t panic. No matter what happens, don’t give up or sell at a loss because that step will make you miss out on the investment returns, which are worth the wait.”
Now, extending the time from 2 years to 10 years, where you’ve invested a total of $12,000. Again, assuming a 10% annual average return, your investment portfolio could be around $20,655, where over $8,600 is pure capital gains, not from your work income. If you can stay committed for even longer, let’s say 30 years, investing the same $100 per month, with the same 10% return rate, it could potentially reach $227,932. And after 40 years, this amount could grow to over $637,000.
Of course, you might think $637,000 isn’t much, especially considering inflation, but Nischa pointed out two things:
Firstly, you’ve actually invested only $48,000 of your own money. The rest can be strictly considered “free money” – merely because you made the decision to invest today.
Secondly, as the inflation rate rises, your income theoretically should also grow. When this happens, you naturally might consider increasing your investment amount accordingly. You started investing $100 per month in your early 20s. Then, as you hit your 30s – hopefully having had a few raises or promotions by then – you may increase your monthly investment to $300. If everything goes according to plan, by your 40s, your total investment could exceed $117,000. Of this, $56,655 would come from your personal contributions, while $61,224 would be from investment gains. Following that in your late 40s, you might have the capacity to invest $600 per month, assuming the same return rate as before, your assets could exceed $443,000. Then in the final decade – let’s say before retirement – if you invest $800 per month, your investment portfolio could grow to over $1.3 million. And during these 40 years, your actual personal investment would only slightly surpass $224,000.
This is all thanks to the power of compound interest – where the interest you earn starts to generate more interest, allowing you to potentially achieve a million dollars without drastically altering your lifestyle overnight or needing to invest thousands of dollars each month.
For many, there’s another obstacle between them and their first investment – the fear that now isn’t the right time to invest. Every time you turn on the news, there seems to be something worrying, whether it’s inflation, interest rates, political situations, economic downturns, or concerns about a market crash. In times of uncertainty, people tend to think, “I’ll wait. When things stabilize or when I feel the market timing is right, then I’ll invest.”
Nischa noted that back in 2008, people believed the financial system was on the brink of collapse. In the early days of the pandemic, many panicked and sold their investments, thinking it would take years for the market to recover. More recently, there have been concerns about inflation, rising interest rates, and another impending crash. However, despite all this, the stock market has continued to rise in the long term. Of course, there will be pullbacks along the way, sometimes quite significant. If you’re investing, it’s almost certain that your portfolio will also experience downtrends. This is just part of the investment journey and entirely normal. But if you look at the long term, observing trends over the past 10, 20, or even 30 years, historically, the overall trend has remained upward. Therefore, the key to investing isn’t what might happen in the next few months; it’s about the trends over the next ten years or even longer.
The reality is that no one truly knows how the market will develop next. This means trying to wait for the “perfect time” to invest is extremely challenging. In fact, one of the biggest mistakes people often make is waiting for the market to feel “safe” again before entering. By the time headlines turn positive and people regain confidence in investing, the market has generally already rebounded. This often leads those waiting to buy in at higher prices. That’s why you often hear that “time in the market beats timing the market.” In other words, starting to invest and staying consistent usually proves more crucial than trying to predict the perfect timing to invest.
Another common factor that often hinders people from becoming wealthy is the belief that investing is too complicated.
Nischa believes that you don’t need to be an economics expert, spend hours studying stock charts, or constantly watch your investment portfolio on the computer. In fact, for most beginners, a simple long-term investment strategy is more than adequate.
The challenge isn’t investing itself but overcoming the obstacles mentioned above and clarifying some fundamental questions: What kind of account should you open? What should you invest in? How much should you invest each month? How to avoid costly mistakes when starting out? These questions can be answered by taking some brief introductory investment courses.
For most people, accumulating wealth through investing is actually much simpler than they imagine. It usually just involves starting with an amount within your means, staying committed, and allowing your funds enough time to grow.