What's The Best Way To Grow $1 Million Over Time?

What if you suddenly came into $1 million? What would you do with it?

Would you take a luxurious trip around the world? Pay off your debts? Buy a new house? Give the money to charity?

The possibilities are endless. But, let’s say that, after the initial euphoria wears off, you decide that instead of spending it, you want to grow that money over time.

After all, $1 million should give you plenty of capital to generate a decent amount of cash flow and growth over time, right? So, what’s the best way to get the most bang for your buck, so to speak?

That’s exactly what we cover in this video. Check it out.

Video Transcript

Today, I dare you to take a trip with me. A trip beyond the realm of what is, to the world of what if.

I know that some of you out there are living paycheck to paycheck, and most of you wish you had a few more zeroes in your bank account.

Well, let’s look at what that would look like. Let’s imagine that you just came into some money. Maybe you won the lottery, got a handsome inheritance, won a lawsuit, your choice. You now have one million dollars that was just dropped into your bank account.

By the end of this video, we’ll have looked at 5 different ways that you could try to grow that million dollars over the next 5 years, and we’ll see which is the most profitable.

Before we dive in, two quick notes. First, I am not a financial advisor, so please do not take any of this as financial advice. Second, for the sake of simplicity, we’re going to leave taxes out of this fictional journey, because, let’s face it, no one wants taxes to tarnish their beautiful rainbow imaginary scenarios, right?

Okay, so you’ve got a million bucks. Let’s say that, instead of spending it, your goal is to grow that money over time, so you can retire early.

Let’s take a look 5 different ways you could put that money to work for you, and what the results would be after 5 years.

#1 – Savings Account

Let’s start with the good ol’ savings account. Surely that’s the safest place for your money, right?

At the time of this recording, the best savings account interest rate is sitting at 2.5%. If you were to put that million dollars into a savings account with a 2.5% interest rate, you’d end up with $1,133,001 after 5 years.

You certainly won’t have lost money, but the returns are not exactly thrilling either.

#2 – Certificate of Deposit

So next, maybe you get a little gutsier and try a CD, or a certificate of deposit. At the time of this recording, the best rate for a 5-year CD is 2.86%. That means that your million dollars would turn into $1,151,417 after 5 years.

Also not bad, but surely a million bucks has more horsepower than that, right?

#3 – Stocks

Okay, now you’re getting serious. Stocks. Let’s see what the stock market can do for you.

Historically, the average annual stock market return over the last century or so has been 10%. Or in other words, $100,000 per year. So after 5 years, you’d have $1.5 million.

Okay. That’s more like it.

But is there more, you think? What about investments outside of the stock market, like real estate?

#4 – Rental Properties

So next, you think about investing in rental properties. You figure, for a $200,000 single family home, you could invest 25% of that, or $50,000, for the down payment. For $1 million, you could invest in twenty $200,000 single family homes.

If each of those single family homes provided $300 in cash flow per month, that would be $6,000 per month, or $72,000 per year.

After 5 years, you would have $1,360,000.

Comparable to the stock market when you consider rent increases and tax breaks during that time, but nothing mind-blowing.

#5 – Real Estate Syndications

Well, I’ve got one more option for you to consider, and that’s investing passively in something called a real estate syndication.

A real estate syndication is a group investment. So instead of you buying these individual rentals, you pool your money together with a group of other investors and buy something larger, like an apartment complex.

Unlike investing in rental properties, you don’t have to find individual properties that meet your price point. You can invest however much you want, above the minimum investment, which is typically $50,000.

So let’s say that you invest $100,000 in 10 different real estate syndications. Each syndication has an average annual return of 8%, or about $80,000 per year altogether.

Nothing earth shattering. Yet.

But then we consider the profits from the sale of these assets. Because you see, the way most real estate syndications work is that they buy an asset, do some work to improve the asset, and then sell the asset within a few years.

When you factor in the additional 50-60% you would get on the backend when those properties are sold, you could potentially double your money from $1 million to $2 million in 5 years.

Now that. That is something to write home about.

Conclusion

So there you have it – 5 different ways to make $1 million go to work for you, from the savings accounts to CDs to stocks, rental properties, and real estate syndications.

If you’re interested in learning more about passive real estate investing through real estate syndications, be sure to grab a free copy of our new book, Investing For Good: The Surprising Strategy For Building Wealth While Also Making An Impact.

Thanks a million for watching (see what I did there?), and I hope you have a sunny-side-up day.