In today’s economy, most people are left wandering if they should make additional investments, instead of leaving their money in a bank. The days of saving accounts and term deposits are now long gone. So, making profitable investment has become our goal.

Most investors simply want a good return on their investment. But what is considered a good return? Enough for retirement? If it is based on what they want for retirement the question becomes how long is it until retirement age? If it is in two years your investment strategy will be much different than for those who are retiring in 15 years time

As an example, let’s use me as a typical investor. 40 years old with a decent income and the ability to invest $300 per month. We’ll have to change my circumstances just a bit and imagine I have nothing in my portfolio but I want the ultimate dream – I want $1 million dollars to retire with. The question is, if I have the $300 available right now, is my target something I can hit?

Assuming that I can match – if not better – a stock index return which is running at 10.4% annually, my sum would be worth roughly $380,000 by the time I get to retiring at 65 years young.

To hit my $1,000,000 target level – I need to invest more than $300 per month. (To hit that I’d need a return of at least 17 – 18% pa. Investing in an Index fund will not allow me to hit my target, as these types of funds normally don’t yield more than 10.5%.

Let’s examine another investment option. Let’s assume, I do decide to invest in index, mutual funds or  OTC funds. I have been working away at my investments for a while and lets say I have a little over 100,000 saved. Can you hit your target with an amount as a lump sum starter? If I use index, mutual funds or OTC funds the answer is YES! As long as, there is no major market upheaval hits and remains the same(ignoring the standard fluctuation you’ll get over an extended period of investing) You should expect to have a little over the $1,000,000 mark by the time your retire and you would not have to add a cent more to your savings amount.  How did I reach my target? By setting up goals and investment aims you can reach your desired sum.