# US$20,000 -\> $1 Million - How do I do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 5, 2004, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771 "2004-01-05T07:04:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ChordedZither](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9c0ed/32.png) [@ChordedZither](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChordedZither)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/21 "2004-01-06T20:05:04Z")
Invest the $20,000 in an education, get a job paying at least $50k/year, and work for 20 years… 🙂 **Max\_Castle** doesn’t say anything about his current job situation. If he’s relatively young and in a minimum-wage position or a low-wage position with minimal prospects for promotion and raises, then my somewhat facetious advice above becomes serious. It may not be the fastest and most glamorous payoff, but increasing your own earning potential is an investment that can compound at a tremendous rate. ---
**Author:** ![TaxGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TaxGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TaxGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/22 "2004-01-06T21:13:31Z")
Great, so we’ve finally reached the stage where the advice-givers argue with each other. These kinds of “how do I invest money” threads are really embarrassing. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/23 "2004-01-06T21:34:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChordedZither \* > \*\* > **Max\_Castle** doesn’t say anything about his current job situation. \*\* Well, he doesn’t say anything about his current job _except_: > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Max\_Castle_\*\* > I have a full time job and make a decent salary. Putting my savings in stocks or mutual funds isn’t going to get me a significantly higher return, especially with the market being the way it is.\*\* One thing to do, if you have a decent job and get raises, is to bank/invest your raises instead of increasing your standard of living. That is, don’t buy a new car, TV, stereo, etc. If you’re comfortable now, then take the entire value of your raise, after taxes, and put it somewhere (see other’s advice) where it’s working for you. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/24 "2004-01-07T04:58:59Z")
Funny how noone mentioned hard work yet. The other component is luck of course. Depending on your situation, another investment possibility is to start a business. $20k is tight for some things, but plenty for others, so it really depends on what your interests (and financial needs) are. ---
**Author:** ![Blown\_Injected](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@Blown\_Injected](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blown_Injected)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/25 "2004-01-07T06:13:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bobby Roberts \* > \*\*That’s a bunch of BS! I bought may house about 1.5 years ago with only a 3% down payment. With the rise in property value, I refiananced this year with about 22% equity in the home. > > Don’t blow your wad on buying a home when you can do it for the minimum and keep more of your money! Then turn around and invest. You’ll make a lot more for the same amount of money spent and still have a nice home to live in! \*\* Sounds good to me, but I am only an MBA. ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/26 "2004-01-07T14:54:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by TaxGuy \* > **Step 2: Read at least five general purpose books…** Okay, so _Investing for Dummies_ is one. Can you recommend four more? Excellent post, BTW. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/27 "2004-01-07T15:06:05Z")
Understand yourself and your priorities. For some people, buying a house is a great investment. The house will cost less than rent, they will build equity, the house is likely to appreciate, they will get a tax writeoff on the house while they have a mortgage, they are risk adverse…and, most importantly, THEY WANT TO OWN A HOUSE…they should buy a house as soon as possible, even if they only have 3% down. For other people, their housing market looking like some sort of tulip scam, they are not risk adverse and are educated about the market (and an industry) to make some good decisions regarding stock (or other investments), they can get a good deal on rent, and they don’t WANT to own a house…a house is a bad investment. Someplace between going to Vegas with $20k and playing craps until you are either broke or a millionarie, and taking that $20k and putting it somewhere safe and adding to it via hard work and frugality is your investment strategy. If turning $20k into a million dollars could be done quickly, safely and easily, than all millionares would be as rich as Bill Gates. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/28 "2004-01-07T21:09:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bill H. \* > Funny how noone mentioned hard work yet. \ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/29 "2004-01-08T18:30:58Z")
to be fair the way i read it, is that if your biggest investment is the home that you live in, _something’s wrong_. he’s not saying that owning a house is a bad idea, just that the bulk of your assets should be busy generating income for you etc etc, instead of being a sinkhole. ---
**Author:** ![culture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/958977/32.png) [@culture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/culture)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771/30 "2004-01-08T22:32:04Z")
Here is the easy, almost fool-proof way to turn your 20K into 1M: Put your money into the Vanguard Tax-Managed Capital Appreciation Fund. Wait 40 years. Presto! 1 million dollars (assuming the average return of the US stock market is the same over the next 40 years is at least as high as it has been the last 70 years. This is a very reasonable assumption). All investments have risk. However, the majority of investment professional would agree this is the lowest risk, lowest effort way to accomplish your goal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-20-000-1-million-how-do-i-do-it/222771.md?page=1)