What if you had put away $3/day for the last 5 years?

[sv2007]

You would go down there and withdraw between $7039 - $7412.
(Depending on your income tax rate and the SP500 ETF expense ratio you pick).

Inflation will eat a tiny bite at $195. Thank you Mr Fed.
That's just perfect for a decent European vacation for 2

[dawnwes]

Why would your income tax rate matter. You saved $3/day for 5 years, where? Why would you be taxed?

$3/day for 5 years is $5,400. Where are you getting that high of an interest rate to increase it by an additional almost 50%?

[dawnwes]

OP mentioned SP500 index, so the assumption is the money was invested in an ETF like SPY, which in the past five years has a 11% annual return on average.

I see. I am not familiar with any of them, so didn't know what ETF meant (other than early termination fee! hahaha!)

[sv2007]

Why would your income tax rate matter. You saved $3/day for 5 years, where? Why would you be taxed?

$3/day for 5 years is $5,400. Where are you getting that high of an interest rate to increase it by an additional almost 50%?

Income tax needs to be paid yearly on interest earned on you cash and on dividends earned.
The remaining (after paying income tax) can then be reinvested.

If you don't pay income tax, then you are looking at a too-optimistic return, which (I'm very conservative on investments) may be misleading. I'd rather show you the lower numbers than higher. BTW, everything is in the past. So, you must frame the question as "What if I HAD done this".

[sv2007]

I see. I am not familiar with any of them, so didn't know what ETF meant (other than early termination fee! hahaha!)

LOL. Soon nobody will know what early termination fee is anymore

ETFs are new, they weren't around til the 90's and weren't popular with retail investors til recently. Now they are very popular and you can find all kings of ETFs (not just covering S&P 500); giving retail investors easy ways to cover an industry and/or diversify.

Own an Android tablet or phone? Search "whatif s&p500 calculator" on the play store. Install the one with a motorcycle rider icon (hey, that's me on my old R6).