Reaching your first $10,000 might sound like a big goal, but it can actually start with something as small as $5 a day—about the cost of a coffee. In fact, some people call this the “latteperday” method because it shows how small, everyday spending adds up. If you’re willing to skip one coffee a day and put that money toward investing, you’d be surprised at how far it can take you.
Let’s do some quick math. If you invest just $5 a day, that’s $150 a month. Over a year, that adds up to $1,800. Now here’s where the magic of compound interest comes in. If you put that money into a simple index fund, and it grows at an average rate of 7% per year, you’ll have around $10,000 in about five years.
This plan doesn’t require a finance degree or fancy stock-picking knowledge. A great place to begin is with low-cost index funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These are like big baskets that hold a variety of stocks, helping you invest in many companies at once. The good news? They're safer over the long term than picking individual stocks, and you can get started with just a small amount of money.
There are apps and online services now that make it easy to invest with only a few dollars. Many of them even let you set up automatic transfers, so you don’t have to think about it every day. Just set it and forget it—and watch your account grow over time.
Even if you can't do $5 every day, starting with any amount helps build the habit. Money isn’t just about how much you earn—it’s also about how well you grow what you have. Getting started early is more powerful than waiting until you have more money later.
The important thing is to stick with it. Investments go up and down, but over time, they’ve historically grown. Months will pass, then years, and if you keep going, one day you’ll look back and see how far that daily $5 got you.
So next time you’re thinking about grabbing that extra snack or soda, remember: your first $10K might only be one small choice away.
Reaching your first $10,000 might sound like a big goal, but it can actually start with something as small as $5 a day—about the cost of a coffee. In fact, some people call this the “latteperday” method because it shows how small, everyday spending adds up. If you’re willing to skip one coffee a day and put that money toward investing, you’d be surprised at how far it can take you.
Let’s do some quick math. If you invest just $5 a day, that’s $150 a month. Over a year, that adds up to $1,800. Now here’s where the magic of compound interest comes in. If you put that money into a simple index fund, and it grows at an average rate of 7% per year, you’ll have around $10,000 in about five years.
This plan doesn’t require a finance degree or fancy stock-picking knowledge. A great place to begin is with low-cost index funds or ETFs (exchange-traded funds). These are like big baskets that hold a variety of stocks, helping you invest in many companies at once. The good news? They're safer over the long term than picking individual stocks, and you can get started with just a small amount of money.
There are apps and online services now that make it easy to invest with only a few dollars. Many of them even let you set up automatic transfers, so you don’t have to think about it every day. Just set it and forget it—and watch your account grow over time.
Even if you can't do $5 every day, starting with any amount helps build the habit. Money isn’t just about how much you earn—it’s also about how well you grow what you have. Getting started early is more powerful than waiting until you have more money later.
The important thing is to stick with it. Investments go up and down, but over time, they’ve historically grown. Months will pass, then years, and if you keep going, one day you’ll look back and see how far that daily $5 got you.
So next time you’re thinking about grabbing that extra snack or soda, remember: your first $10K might only be one small choice away.