Fifty bucks a month doesn’t buy a lot. It might get you a bag or two of groceries, dinner at a nice restaurant, or a couple of tickets and snacks at the movies.

Or you could use that $50 to start building your nest egg. While $50 a month adds up to only $600 a year, through time and the power of compounding, your $50-a-month investment may contribute significantly to your retirement fund – or your other financial goals.

Fortunately, $50 per month is all you need to get started with Thrivent Mutual Funds automatic purchase plan^1. [The $50 starting amount is available only when setting up a $50-per-month (minimum) recurring or automatic purchase plan.]

How does $50 a month add up?

Here’s how much a $50 investment each month could bring you over a lifetime.

(Examples are hypothetical for illustrative purposes only. They are not intended to represent the performance of any particular investment product. They do not take into consideration product expenses or fees. The results would be reduced if the costs were included.)

Example 1: Investing in a portfolio with a 5% average annual return.

• After 10 years, your $50-per-month contribution (with a 5% annual average return) would have grown to about $7,750
• After 20 years it would have grown to about $20,000
• After 30 years, it would have grown to about $40,000
• After 40 years it would have grown to nearly $75,000
• and after 50 years, it would have grown to nearly $129,000.

In the chart, you can see how your initial dollars invested become a smaller portion of your investment as the reinvested returns grow over time.

Example 2: Investing in a portfolio with a 10% average annual return.

A more aggressive investment may provide an average return similar to the S&P 500® Index. Over the past 50 years, since 1965, the S&P 500 has grown at an average annual rate of 11%². While past performance does not guarantee future returns, and investing may involve the risk of loss of principle, let’s say that after the investment's expenses and fees, you are able to earn an average return of 10% per year. (The S&P 500 is a market-cap-weighted index that represents the average performance of a group of 500 large capitalization stocks. Indexes are unmanaged and do not reflect the fees and expenses associated with active management.)

• After 10 years, your $50-per-month contribution (with a 10% annual average return) would have grown to about $10,000
• After 20 years it would have grown to more than $35,000
• After 30 years it would have grown to more than $100,000
• After 40 years it would have grown to nearly $280,000
• and after 50 years, it would have grown to about $735,000.

In the chart, you can see how your initial dollars invested become a smaller portion of your investment as the reinvested returns grow over time.

The chart below gives you an idea of how much an investment of $50 per month could earn for your retirement over your lifetime, depending on your current age (or the age of your children). Starting at an early age can have a significant effect on how much your portfolio would grow over the course of your lifetime:

Figures are based on monthly investments of $50 earning 5% and 10% average annual return over 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 years.

As you can see, $50 dollars could contribute significantly to your retirement nest egg. Start building your nest egg today for a minimum investment of just $50 per month through the Thrivent Mutual Funds Automatic Purchase Plan.