# How You Could Save for a Million Dollars

By: [Team Stash](/content/learn/author/team-stash/index.html)  
Published: Feb 01, 2018  
• Updated: Jun 09, 2026

#### In this article:

1. [**3 steps to saving a million dollars you may want to consider**](/content/learn/how-you-could-save-for-a-million-dollars/#3-steps-to-saving-a-million-dollars-you-may-want-to-consider/index.html)
2. [**Make a plan**](/content/learn/how-you-could-save-for-a-million-dollars/#make-a-plan/index.html)
3. [**Figure out how much you expect your investments to earn**](/content/learn/how-you-could-save-for-a-million-dollars/#figure-out-how-much-you-expect-your-investments-to-earn/index.html)
4. [**Come up with your millionaire monthly savings number**](/content/learn/how-you-could-save-for-a-million-dollars/#come-up-with-your-millionaire-monthly-savings-number/index.html)
5. [**Ready to start putting money working towards your future?**](/content/learn/how-you-could-save-for-a-million-dollars/#ready-to-start-putting-money-working-towards-your-future/index.html)

## 3 steps to saving a million dollars you may want to consider

Wouldn’t you love to have a million dollars? Wouldn’t that make your life much easier?

If you agree but can’t imagine you’ll ever open your savings account and see a million dollars sitting there, we have good news—it may be easier than you think.

One way to do this is to figure out how much you need to set aside a month and then create [a savings plan](/content/learn/stash-smart-save-introducing/index.html) to make this happen.

After some math and applying averages based on predictions around future returns, you’ll see that reaching a million dollars is an actual possibility.

Here are the three steps you may want to consider:

## Make a plan

If you’re like most people, you’d love to be a millionaire right away. Consider a more reasonable plan.

For example, many people are quite happy to get there by the time [they retire at 65](/content/retire/index.html). If this sounds pretty good then you should consider investing in an [individual retirement plan (IRA)](/content/learn/what-is-stash-retire/index.html).

An IRA allows you to contribute money toward your retirement in a tax-advantaged way.

With a [traditional IRA](/content/learn/what-is-a-traditional-ira/index.html), you pay taxes when you take the money out when you’re ready to retire. With a [Roth IRA](/content/learn/what-is-a-roth-ira/index.html), you contribute using your post-tax dollars so when you are ready to retire, the money is yours.

Using [an investment calculator](https://www.investor.gov/additional-resources/free-financial-planning-tools/compound-interest-calculator), you can see how much money you’ll need to put aside into an IRA in order to get to that magic number on time.

## Figure out how much you expect your investments to earn

When it comes to the stock market, there’s no such thing as a crystal ball.

Some years the market does better than others. For example, the market [has been soaring](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/business/market-dow-2018.html) over the past 10 years following the Great Recession. But before and during that time, there were periods when [markets fell or just underperformed](http://www.macrotrends.net/1319/dow-jones-100-year-historical-chart).

That said, many experts predict that the long-term expected annual return for US large cap stocks (i.e., the S&P 500) is [5.9%](https://www.blackrock.com/institutions/en-us/insights/portfolio-design/capital-market-assumptions).

If you use an investment calculator, you can try and plan out your savings strategy over time, using that 5.9% as a benchmark. And while the markets may go up and down over time, staying invested for the long haul (we’re talking decades, not days), can help you weather storms in the market.

## Come up with your millionaire monthly savings number

Finally, let’s figure out the amount you may need to set aside every month from here until your goal date of becoming a millionaire.

For a lot of us, putting that much money aside each month is a tall order. It’s better to start earlier to get a head start. When it comes to saving and investing, time is your best friend.

There are other ways to get to your goal.

If you have a [employer-sponsored retirement plan](https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/retirement-plans/employer-sponsored-plans), be sure to take advantage of matching. As long as your employer matches some amount of your contribution, you’ll have a much easier time reaching your goal.

## Ready to start putting money working towards your future?

Stash is offering [new users $5](/content/start-investing/stashlearn?newlywedmillenials=bottom=newusers/index.html) to get you started investing by signing up [here](/content/start-investing/stashlearn?newlywedmillenials=bottom=newusers/index.html). Remember, anyone can be a saver or an investor. All you have to do is start.