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How I Turned $500 into $29,000 with This DIY Investing Strategy

June 20, 2017 By Aja McClanahan Leave a Comment

Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

DIY investing might seem scary. Learning to invest in the stock market might seem even scarier. Wild claims like an investing strategy that turns $500 into $29,000 might even sound outrageous. A DIY investing strategy that really works? You’re probably thinking, there has to be a scam somewhere.

Related investing resources:
  • Free investing course
  • Investing apps for beginners
  • Get $5 to Start Investing with Stash
  • Get $5 to Start Investing with Acorns

There’s no scam but there is a catch. You’ve got to start with something and you’ve got to be willing to let your money grow (or invest more money if you haven’t got as much time.)

Before I show you how it all works, I want you to envision what you could do with $29,000 in cold hard cash. What are the possibilities?

  • Paying for your child’s first year of college
  • Having a down payment on an investment property
  • Buying your children a car, free and clear
  • Taking a trip around the world, debt-free

Related resources:

Free Investing Course 

Watch Me Invest $5,000- Free Tutorial

You can invest your own money without the help of an advisor. It’s true. This DIY investing strategy can work for anyone willing to take the time and energy to log into their trading account and purchase investments- just like you would a pair of jeans online.

Ready to see how this all works?

First, we’ll go to this investing calculator:

 https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools/compound-interest-calculator

Then we’ll punch in the numbers:

You’ll take your first $500 and put that in as your initial investment. Then, you’ll commit to investing at least $150 per month. We’ll choose a pretty conservative range in terms of return at 4.5% on the low end and 5.5% on the high end.

Here’s how it all looks:

investing strategy

Now, it gets easy. Click the “calculate” button and you’ll see exactly what $500 down plus $150 in investing each month will yield:

So you can see for yourself that the time value of money can produce really great returns. On the low end, you could end up with around $22,000. On the high end, you could have up to $29,000 after an initial $500 investment followed by adding just $150 each month to your investing account!

The key is to start investing and commit to adding money to your account each month. Finally, you’ll want to make sure the money you invest won’t be needed for at least 3-5 years. You’ll want to give it time to grow. The fun of passive income is that the money does the work for you.

Related Reading:

DIY Investing for Beginners Stocks vs. ETFs

One thing you might be wondering is, “What do I invest in?” I’ve got a great interview with Mabelle of Girls on the Money regarding investing in individual stocks.

Personally, I only invest a small amount of money into individual stocks and build most of our portfolio with exchange traded funds (ETFs.) I like low-cost funds that are tied to indexes like the Dow, S&P 500 and so forth. This allows you to diversify your holdings (not depend one stock) and “set it and forget it.”  The ETF does all the work and unlike a mutual fund which, many times, requires a minimum of $500, $1,000 or more to start, you can buy small amounts at a time.

Here are some examples of ETFs I like:

Vanguard Small Cap Value Tilt; Symbol= VBR
Vanguard Mid-Cap Growth; Symbol= VOT
Vanguard Large-Cap Growth; Symbol= VUG
Vanguard MSCI Emerging Markets; Symbol= VWO
Vanguard Real Estate Investment Trust; Symbol= VNQ

Related reading:

Learn to Invest- Free Course

There are also corresponding funds with companies like Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Oppenheimer, Prudential, etc. I like Vanguard because the returns are good and the costs are low. But feel free to choose just one or a combination of these.
If you’re ready to get your account opened to purchase your first stock or ETF, you can open a trading account with Ally Invest (formerly Trade King) for free right here.

Related Reading:

5 Reasons to Invest Outside of Your 401K Plan

Ready to invest? Open an Ally Invest brokerage account here.
More investing information:
  • Free investing course
  • Manage & Track Your Investments and New Worth- Free Tool
  • Invest your spare change with Acorns
  • How I Turned $500 to $29,000 with this DIY Investing Strategy
  • Investing for Beginners Stocks versus ETFs
  • How to Invest in Individual Stocks
If you need more information on how to start investing, enter your information below and I will send you a free eBook on getting started. It includes access to a video tutorial on opening your account and purchasing your first stock/ETF:

Ready to Invest? Get Your Beginner's DIY Guide!

Enter your information to get a free DIY investing guide along with a "cheat sheet" of dividend paying companies you can evaluate for investment consideration.

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Aja McClanahan
Aja McClanahan
Aja “A.J.” McClanahan is a writer, speaker and entrepreneur.

Filed Under: Build Wealth, Financial Freedom Planning, Investing

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Hi! I’m Aja, the founder of Principles of Increase. Our family dumped over $120,000 in debt back in 2013. I got so many questions about it, that I decided to start this site. Here, I talk about taking control of your money and how to live a better life in general. I’m glad you are here! More about me…

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Disclosure: Principles of Increase contains affiliate links and receives compensation for product reviews. Aja McClanahan is also a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.principlesofincrease.com.This website is for entertainment and informational purposes only. Seek a financial advisor for guidance pertaining to your specific money issues. To access our privacy policy, click here.

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