Millennials: Want to Retire Rich? Start Investing in This 1 Stock Today

Path to retirement

Investing and growing your savings is a long-term process that can take many years. That’s why it’s important to start as early as possible. And rather than chasing the next hot IPO that could end up crashing and crippling your portfolio, you’re better off looking for stable investments that can slowly and steadily help you accumulate wealth over the years. It may sound like a boring strategy, but it’s one of the best ways to ensure you retire rich without putting your portfolio in harm’s way.

Bank stocks never go out of style

Investing in a top bank stock is a good way to ensure that your portfolio will continue rising over the years. The Big Five banks in Canada can provide your portfolio with lots of stability, and they’re great sources of dividend income.

Bank of Nova Scotia (TSX:BNS)(NYSE:BNS) currently yields around 6.5% per year. But 2020 has been an off year for financial stocks, so let’s assume that on average, it’ll generate dividend income of 5% per year. And let’s say that typically it’ll grow at a rate of 8% every year — that’s about the annual growth it has averaged for the past 20 years (prior to this year, of course). Under this model, I’m also going to assume that dividends are not re-invested into the stock.

But to generate any growth you’ll first need to buy some shares. Rather than a big lump sum, let’s assume you contribute $350 every month and buy shares of Scotiabank. With those assumptions in place, let’s take a look how your wealth might grow if you began investing in the stock at the age of 25:

Age

Year

Total Contributions

Beginning Portfolio Balance

Growth

Ending Portfolio Balance

Dividends

Total Dividends

Portfolio + Dividends

25

1

$4,200

$4,200

$294

$4,494

$210

$210

$4,704

26

2

$8,400

$8,694

$609

$9,303

$420

$630

$9,933

27

3

$12,600

$13,503

$945

$14,448

$630

$1,260

$15,708

28

4

$16,800

$18,648

$1,305

$19,953

$840

$2,100

$22,053

29

5

$21,000

$24,153

$1,691

$25,844

$1,050

$3,150

$28,994

30

6

$25,200

$30,044

$2,103

$32,147

$1,260

$4,410

$36,557

31

7

$29,400

$36,347

$2,544

$38,891

$1,470

$5,880

$44,771

32

8

$33,600

$43,091

$3,016

$46,108

$1,680

$7,560

$53,668

33

9

$37,800

$50,308

$3,522

$53,829

$1,890

$9,450

$63,279

34

10

$42,000

$58,029

$4,062

$62,091

$2,100

$11,550

$73,641

35

11

$46,200

$66,291

$4,640

$70,931

$2,310

$13,860

$84,791

36

12

$50,400

$75,131

$5,259

$80,391

$2,520

$16,380

$96,771

37

13

$54,600

$84,591

$5,921

$90,512

$2,730

$19,110

$109,622

38

14

$58,800

$94,712

$6,630

$101,342

$2,940

$22,050

$123,392

39

15

$63,000

$105,542

$7,388

$112,930

$3,150

$25,200

$138,130

40

16

$67,200

$117,130

$8,199

$125,329

$3,360

$28,560

$153,889

41

17

$71,400

$129,529

$9,067

$138,596

$3,570

$32,130

$170,726

42

18

$75,600

$142,796

$9,996

$152,792

$3,780

$35,910

$188,702

43

19

$79,800

$156,992

$10,989

$167,981

$3,990

$39,900

$207,881

44

20

$84,000

$172,181

$12,053

$184,234

$4,200

$44,100

$228,334

45

21

$88,200

$188,434

$13,190

$201,624

$4,410

$48,510

$250,134

46

22

$92,400

$205,824

$14,408

$220,232

$4,620

$53,130

$273,362

47

23

$96,600

$224,432

$15,710

$240,142

$4,830

$57,960

$298,102

48

24

$100,800

$244,342

$17,104

$261,446

$5,040

$63,000

$324,446

49

25

$105,000

$265,646

$18,595

$284,241

$5,250

$68,250

$352,491

50

26

$109,200

$288,441

$20,191

$308,632

$5,460

$73,710

$382,342

51

27

$113,400

$312,832

$21,898

$334,730

$5,670

$79,380

$414,110

52

28

$117,600

$338,930

$23,725

$362,655

$5,880

$85,260

$447,915

53

29

$121,800

$366,855

$25,680

$392,535

$6,090

$91,350

$483,885

54

30

$126,000

$396,735

$27,771

$424,507

$6,300

$97,650

$522,157

55

31

$130,200

$428,707

$30,009

$458,716

$6,510

$104,160

$562,876

56

32

$134,400

$462,916

$32,404

$495,320

$6,720

$110,880

$606,200

57

33

$138,600

$499,520

$34,966

$534,487

$6,930

$117,810

$652,297

58

34

$142,800

$538,687

$37,708

$576,395

$7,140

$124,950

$701,345

59

35

$147,000

$580,595

$40,642

$621,237

$7,350

$132,300

$753,537

60

36

$151,200

$625,437

$43,781

$669,217

$7,560

$139,860

$809,077

61

37

$155,400

$673,417

$47,139

$720,556

$7,770

$147,630

$868,186

62

38

$159,600

$724,756

$50,733

$775,489

$7,980

$155,610

$931,099

63

39

$163,800

$779,689

$54,578

$834,267

$8,190

$163,800

$998,067

64

40

$168,000

$838,467

$58,693

$897,160

$8,400

$172,200

$1,069,360

After 40 years, you would have contributed a total of $168,000, generated growth of $729,160 and earned dividend income of $172,200. Combined, your portfolio would be worth $1,069,360.

At that point, you could cash out and use the money as you wish, including investing the full amount into an ETF and living off the dividend income. If you were to invest $1,000,000 in an investment yielding 5% per year, your annual dividend income of $50,000 could potentially be enough to live off, or, at the very least, be a great way to supplement your other retirement income with.

Bottom line

If Scotiabank continues growing its dividend, and if you re-invest the income, then these returns would be even larger. But the point is to show that if you’re able and willing to start investing money into Scotiabank today, you could be in for a big payday when it comes time to retire. It may not be as exciting as buying and trading stocks all the time, but by building your investment steadily over time, you can earn a great return while taking on minimal risk.

There are many other stocks besides Scotiabank that you can invest in, and it may even make sense to use an ETF to provide you with more diversification and stability.

By sticking to a plan and slowly contributing more money over the years, you can make your life a whole lot easier when it comes time to retire.

The post Millennials: Want to Retire Rich? Start Investing in This 1 Stock Today appeared first on The Motley Fool Canada.

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Fool contributor David Jagielski has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA.

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