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If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

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Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#81

Post by JoeAltmaier »

sophacles wrote: post #80
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm older than 15

I'm not saying you aren't - I'm saying that assuming a 7% apr for the last 15 years from banks is not a good one - a savings accounts and CDs just don't pay out that high. Even if you got some big gains early (80s and early 90s) - the very low compounding rate since 2000 will squash those bank returns.

Not quite true. Early money dwarfs later money in any calculation. But the last 15 years would certainly put a damper on things. Would be nice if the app calculated real interest return for us!

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#82

Post by cableshaft »

toado85 wrote: post #28

Hey guys... I made the page. Just saw lots of traffic coming from here so figured I'd come check it out. A couple things I figured I should address after reading the comments: 1) Yahoo!'s historic S&P 500 data does not factor in dividends. So the returns would likely be 1-2% higher each year (which over time makes a very big difference). I should probably add a note on the page mentioning this. Here was my conundrum…

You sold me with this simple site. I can handle $31 a month easy. I'll set up a monthly investment into index funds later today.

I have a Sharebuilder account, but would there be a better site to do this from nowadays? Preferably with a good companion app?

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#83

Post by toado85 »

toado85 wrote: post #28

Hey guys... I made the page. Just saw lots of traffic coming from here so figured I'd come check it out. A couple things I figured I should address after reading the comments: 1) Yahoo!'s historic S&P 500 data does not factor in dividends. So the returns would likely be 1-2% higher each year (which over time makes a very big difference). I should probably add a note on the page mentioning this. Here was my conundrum…

Found this - http://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-dividend-yield/table - which I'll use to add a "include-dividends" mode (on by default).

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#84

Post by GFischer »

Someone1234 wrote: post #15
GFischer wrote: post #14

Well, someone should market this for parents. Definitely an opportunity for some company.

They already do, it is called a college fund, or 529 plan. Most parents with any sense are investing early because that's the only way to save up the $200,000 that college will cost per kid. [0] https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/college-c... Select public in-state college, and 18 years from now, 4 year, it will cost $225K. Better get saving!

Ah, ok, I hadn't heard of it in my country, but it makes sense someone in the US had it :)

College in my country is free if you want to (but many people, including myself, believe you're better off going to a private, paid university anyways, for most careers).

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#85

Post by micwawa »

$1 is 1981 was four popsicles from the icecream truck. Well worth it to be the king.

$1 in 1996 was a bottomless plastic cup of PBR. Also well worth it.

$1 is 2011 is the cost of an overnight diaper that my three year old son throws away in the middle of night because he says he doesn't like it.

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#86

Post by jo6gwb »

micwawa wrote: post #85

$1 is 1981 was four popsicles from the icecream truck. Well worth it to be the king. $1 in 1996 was a bottomless plastic cup of PBR. Also well worth it. $1 is 2011 is the cost of an overnight diaper that my three year old son throws away in the middle of night because he says he doesn't like it.

I take it the diaper wasn't worth it.

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#87

Post by toado85 »

Since so many people suggested it should include dividends and dividend reinvestment, I added that in, based on this chart: http://www.multpl.com/s-p-500-dividend-yield/table - as expected, it makes a huge difference if you go back a ways. (I had no idea dividends were so much larger in the 50s-80s). There's a toggle button to see with and without. Thanks again for the feedback!

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#88

Post by toado85 »

mason55 wrote: post #46
jack-r-abbit wrote: post #6

I was kind of expecting it to be more. Not that I'd complain about an extra $114k right now. But after 40+ years I was thinking it would be more.

Yeah I thought this would be a dramatic example of compound interest. Instead my total matches about 3 months worth of principle for me nowadays.

Just added dividends / dividend reinvestment. This makes a huge difference if you go back in the 70s and earlier.

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#89

Post by vijayr »

gricardo99 wrote: post #30

This also ignores the fact that your average person, until more recently, couldn't so easily invest in the S&P 500, without some big transaction costs. A couple of factors that make this possible today: 1. Online brokers, starting in late 90s, lowered retail trading fees, made access easier. 2. low-fee, highly liquid, highly competitive ETFs give anyone cheap exposure to the broader market indicators, like S&P 500. S…

As always, the devil is in the details. It is still a cool experiment though

Re: If you invested $1 a day, starting when you were born

#90

Post by matt_wulfeck »

teekert wrote: post #24
takno wrote: post #17

I invested my spare money in a computer, and it's definitely paid back more than the S&P 500 in salary. Using up limited funds in childhood on financial investments is just madness

Nice comparison! I feel the same about my education, pays back about my total investment every couple of months. Of course in my country (Netherlands) I pay back a lot more in taxes.

Just out of curiosity, how much do you pay in taxes? If you're a sillicon valley engineer on the higher end, you end up paying 30-40% federal + 10% state and local taxes.
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