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Infographic: The 3-Step “Lazy” Plan to $1 Million
The Laziest Way to Make $1,000,000 (10 Minutes a Year)
I’ve been investing since I was seven years old. Here’s what I learned: you don’t need to pick individual stocks, you don’t need to watch the market every day, and you definitely don’t need to be a genius.
I passed the CFP® exam at 16 and helped millions improve their finances, and I’ll share the lazy investor’s dream: three dead-simple steps to hit a million dollars.
Step 1: Open an Investment Account and Pick Your Investments
Open a Roth IRA
First, open a Roth IRA. Here’s why this matters.
Every dollar you put in grows tax-free forever. When you retire and pull that money out, you don’t owe the IRS a single penny on your gains.
Plus, if you’re in a dire emergency, you can withdraw your contributions without penalties. That flexibility can be clutch when you’re young.
Pick Your Two Funds
Now, here’s where most people overcomplicate things. They think they need to pick the best stocks, or ten different funds covering all the hot sectors.
You don’t. Young investors with decades to benefit from compounding need exactly two index funds: VOO and VEU.
That’s it.
VOO tracks the S&P 500 – the 500 largest US companies, like Apple, Walmart, Microsoft, and Coca-Cola. You own a slice of them all, so when the US economy grows, you grow with it.
VEU covers international stocks outside the United States, including emerging markets. It captures global growth and makes sure you’re not betting everything on just one country.
Fund Allocation
Here’s your allocation: invest 80% in VOO, and 20% in VEU.
You’re heavy on US stocks because historically they’ve delivered strong returns, but you’ve still got that 20% international exposure to spread risk across the entire global economy.
Here’s the beauty of this setup: there’s no need for endless research on individual companies. 2 ETFs are your whole portfolio.
Setting up a Roth IRA online takes about 10 minutes. So go to any of the popular brokerages – Fidelity, Vanguard, or Schwab – and open a Roth IRA.
You’ve just started your millionaire journey!
Step 2: Automate Your Monthly Contributions
Now that you’ve got the right account and funds, here’s the math that makes this work.
Let’s say you’re 25 years old and you want to retire at 65. Using a 9% annual return, which is conservative based on historical market performance, you need to invest about $250 per month to hit $1 million by retirement.
You’re putting in just $120,000 over these 40 years. The other $880,000 is compounding doing the heavy lifting for you!
The market grows, and time turns your contributions into serious wealth. This is why starting early is so powerful.
But here’s where most people fail. They rely on their willpower.
Be smart, and automate. Just log into your brokerage account and set up automatic transfers and investments.
First, schedule $250 to transfer from your checking account to your brokerage account every month. If your employer allows it, you can split your direct deposit so $250 goes straight to your Roth IRA before you ever see it.
And then, set up automatic investment in VOO and VEU.
If $250 feels like a lot right now, start with what you can afford – even if it’s $50 or $100. And as you get raises over the years, increase your contribution.
The key is to start today and let compounding do the hard work.
Step 3: Check Once Per Year and Do Nothing Else
You’ve automated the contributions and investment. Now here’s how you stay on track without obsessing.
Once a year, log into your account. Verify that your contributions and investments are happening as scheduled.
And check that your allocation has stayed roughly 80/20 between VOO and VEU. If it has drifted a bit, you can rebalance. That’s it. Then log out.
Here’s the boring truth: doing nothing is the winning strategy for long-term wealth. Time does most of the work, because compounding and market growth happen whether you’re watching or not.
But there are 4 common mistakes that could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars. Check this out before you invest another dollar to avoid them: 4 Beginner Investing Mistakes That Are Quietly Costing You Thousands