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How to target £1m by investing £750 a month in a Stocks and Shares ISA

Young mixed-race woman jumping for joy in a park with confetti falling around her

Making £1m in a Stocks and Shares ISA with only £750 a month may seem a little farfetched. That’s especially true, considering the recent bumpy ride the equity markets have been.

The short-term future of shares is clearly shrouded in uncertainty, given the ongoing economic problems facing the UK. However, in the long run, these issues are fairly negligible. After all, the stock market has a 100% track record of completely recovering from even the worst financial crises before reaching new heights.

Therefore, now could be the perfect time to start ramping up a portfolio while stocks are still cheap. In fact, doing this consistently every month can eventually lead to a millionaire territory. Here’s how.

Understanding the power of compounding

Looking at the FTSE 250, the UK’s growth index has delivered average annual returns of around 10.6% since its inception in 1992. It’s certainly been a volatile ride, with multiple crashes and corrections occurring during these 31 years.

But any investor who continued to top up their Stocks and Shares ISA each month at this rate of return is likely sitting on a tidy sum. In fact, investing £750 a month at this rate of return for three decades translates into a portfolio worth £2.15m!

Assuming the FTSE 250 continues to deliver these double-digit gains for the next 31 years, investors drip-feeding capital today could be in a far superior financial position in the long run. But with stocks currently trading at a discount, it might be possible to unlock even higher returns. And picking individual stocks instead of an index fund pushes this potential even further.

Even if a hand-crafted portfolio only musters an extra 2% in annualised gains, that’s enough to push the portfolio value up by another £1.25m, to a total of £3.41m!

Picking the right stocks for an ISA

The Stocks and Shares ISA is a fairly flexible investment account. Most grant access to the entire London Stock Exchange as well as international stock exchanges like the Nasdaq in the US. In other words, investors are spoilt for choice regarding where they can put their capital to work.

But just because it’s possible to buy shares in almost any company doesn’t necessarily mean that’s a good idea. In fact, most businesses either outright fail to meet expectations or run out of steam, dragging down a portfolio’s returns.

As such, a poorly constructed portfolio will likely struggle to match the returns of the stock market average, let alone beat it. It could even end up destroying wealth. And investors may end up with significantly less than expected when the time for retirement comes along. So how can investors avoid this pitfall on the path to becoming a millionaire?

Risk can never be entirely eliminated when it comes to investing. That’s because too many external factors are at play that investors and companies have no control over. However, that doesn’t mean risk can’t be reduced, or mitigated.

Carefully investigating and analysing a business can highlight strengths. But it also often reveals the weaknesses ahead of time, allowing investors to keep an eye on the most prominent threats.

The post How to target £1m by investing £750 a month in a Stocks and Shares ISA appeared first on The Motley Fool UK.

Pound coins for sale — 51 pence?

This seems ridiculous, but we almost never see shares looking this cheap. Yet this recent ‘Best Buy Now’ has a price/book ratio of 0.51. In plain English, this means that investors effectively get in on a business that holds £1 of assets for every 51p they invest!

Of course, this is the stock market where money is always at risk — these valuations can change and there are no guarantees. But some risks are a LOT more interesting than others, and at The Motley Fool we believe this company is amongst them.

What’s more, it currently boasts a stellar dividend yield of around 8.5%, and right now it’s possible for investors to jump aboard at near-historic lows. Want to get the name for yourself?

See the full investment case

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Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.