# Help Me Get Rich **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807 "2006-08-15T10:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/1 "2006-08-15T10:21:35Z")
Okay, so “rich” isn’t a person. When they tell you that if you put a hundred dollars from each paycheck away when you’re 22, by the time you’re 50, you’ll end up with a damned good amount of money. My questions is what do they do with it? What kind of account/investment would this take? ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/2 "2006-08-15T10:30:21Z")
®IRA’s, Mutual funds, stocks and bonds… Usually blended for performance to your expectations and age. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/3 "2006-08-15T12:33:47Z")
Well, let’s say a simple S&P Index fund which, over the long term, can return a good 8% or more per year. Assuming you get paid every two weeks, let’s compound over 33 years adding $2400 per year: Initial principal: 0 Yearly addition: $2400 Rate: 8% After 33 years, you get: 378,304.01 Of course, you’d probably end up with even more than that, since an index fund can do a lot better than 8%, and you’ll probably get a few raises over 33 years which will allow you to afford to invest more of every paycheck. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/4 "2006-08-15T14:03:49Z")
There are thousands of books written on this subject. Reading any of them closely will return it’s purchase price thousands of times over your life. I suggest The Wealthy Barber, the Automatic Millionaire, or the variants on Smart People Finish Rich. Good luck. Starting to save and invest at 22 puts you way ahead of the game. ---
**Author:** ![Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Throatwarbler\_Mangrove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Throatwarbler_Mangrove)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/5 "2006-08-15T14:16:03Z")
Exotic cars. Have to pick the right one to begin with though. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/6 "2006-08-15T14:20:46Z")
Another way to get rich is to invest the money in taking out wealthy widows or divercees, then marry one of them (or several in succession, if you can get good divorce settlements). ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-get-rich/368807/7 "2006-08-15T14:37:48Z")
[QUOTE=friedo] Well, let’s say a simple S&P Index fund which, over the long term, can return a good 8% or more per year. Assuming you get paid every two weeks, let’s compound over 33 years adding $2400 per year: Initial principal: 0 Yearly addition: $2400 Rate: 8% After 33 years, you get: 378,304.01 Of course, you’d probably end up with even more than that, since an index fund can do a lot better than 8%, and you’ll probably get a few raises over 33 years which will allow you to afford to invest more of every paycheck. [/QUOTE] Of course assuming 2% interest over 33 years means that $1 today becomes roughly equivalent to $2 then. The resulting $380k is actually only worth $190k in today’s money.