One of the most common questions I hear from clients who are just starting to invest is: “What will my money actually be worth someday?” It’s the right question to ask — because understanding the future value of your investments is what makes the discipline of saving feel worthwhile.

Here’s how I help clients think about long-term investment growth, and what you need to know before you start putting money to work.

The Foundation: Compound Growth Over Time

The most powerful force in long-term investing isn’t picking the right stock — it’s time. Compound growth means that your returns generate their own returns, and the longer your money stays invested, the more dramatic that compounding effect becomes. A $10,000 investment growing at 7% per year becomes roughly $19,700 in 10 years, $38,700 in 20 years, and $76,100 in 30 years — without adding another dollar.

Common Ways to Invest for the Future

I work with clients across a range of investment approaches depending on their goals, timeline, and risk tolerance. Here are the most common:

• Long-term, diversified portfolios: For most clients building wealth over decades, I recommend a diversified mix of low-cost index funds across domestic stocks, international stocks, and bonds. This approach captures broad market growth while managing risk through diversification.
• Retirement accounts first: Before investing in taxable accounts, I always encourage maximizing 401(k), IRA, and Roth IRA contributions. The tax advantages compound dramatically over time.
• Dividend-focused investing: Some clients prefer investments that generate regular income through dividends, which can be reinvested to accelerate growth or drawn on in retirement.

What I Tell Clients About Market Volatility

Markets will go up, and markets will go down — sometimes significantly. In my 25+ years of working with clients, the investors who come out ahead are consistently the ones who stay invested through downturns rather than selling in a panic. Trying to time the market almost always leads to worse outcomes than simply staying the course with a well-diversified portfolio.

If market volatility keeps you up at night, that’s a signal that your portfolio may be more aggressive than your risk tolerance actually supports. I help clients find an allocation they can stay committed to through all market conditions.

Speculative Investments: Proceed with Caution

Futures, options, commodities, and other speculative investments can generate significant returns — but they carry equally significant risk of loss, and they require a level of active attention and expertise that most individual investors don’t have the time or resources to apply. I generally steer clients away from speculative trading as a primary wealth-building strategy and toward consistent, diversified long-term investing instead.

See What Your Investment Could Grow To

Use the calculator below to project the future value of your investment based on your starting amount, monthly contributions, time horizon, and expected rate of return.

USE THE INVESTMENT GROWTH CALCULATOR.