How much interest do you earn on one million dollars?

A lot of people end up at my site after searching on the question “How much interest do you earn on one million dollars?”

So, I’ve decided to give them a proper answer: How much interest do you earn on a million dollars? The answer is, of course, it depends.

It depends on several factors including: What is the interest rate? Over what period of time? How often is the interest calculated and paid during the period?

What is the interest rate?
Obviously the higher the interest rate, the better. Even small differences result in large amounts of money over long periods of time. As a practical example, we’ll use a 4% interest rate which is easily available with a high interest online savings account (update: rates have dropped since this was originally published).

Over what period of time?
The longer the better. Compound interest works it’s magic best over long periods of time. I’ll give a couple of examples using different periods of time.

How often is the interest calculated and paid?
The more often, the better. Is the money compounded yearly, quarterly, monthly, or daily? For our example we’ll assume the money is compounded monthly.

So, to answer the question, how much interest do you earn on One Million Dollars (assuming a 4% interest rate, compounded monthly)?

One Day – $109.59

One Month – $3,333.33

One Year – $40,741.54

Five Years – $220,996.59

Ten Years – $490,832.68

Twenty Years – $1,222,582.09

So, it doesn’t take long for the money to really add up. And there are a lot of ways to get a higher interest rate than 4%. You can use a compound interest calculator to experiment with different interest rates, periods of time, and compounding periods.

105 thoughts on “How much interest do you earn on one million dollars?

  1. That’s at 4%… but people that have $1M+ do not let it sit in Risk Free accounts (yes, I know that you know that) — so, that $1M will likely earn anything but your 4%.

    10%? 15%? 20% or more? Maybe so!

    – Steven Burda –
    e-mail: steven.burda.mba @gmail.com

  2. John Chambers , disabled

    If you really want to know how much interest one million can make then stop all the talk and do something. Just send me one million dollars and I will invest it.

  3. if invested in corporate bonds (stellar companies like Levis Strauss, Starbucks borrow money all the time) you’ll get around 9%.

    or if you’re like john kerry’s wife, theresa heinz, you put them in TAX-FREE munis!

  4. As others have said, tax is a critical issue here. Not sure about the US, but in the UK savings are taxed at 20% to 40%, once you’re above a small income band. It’s much more efficient to put a million pounds into stocks, where there’s no higher rate tax to pay. As I say, your US readers will need to look into the equivalent tax bands over there.

  5. Earning interest from the bank may give you an amount which is not that much if you would use it for your investment in financial market, etc.

  6. Much better off putting that million dollars into an equity portfolio that pays dividends if you’re going to try and live off it for the long-term. Sure the value will oscillate wildly (as we’re seeing now) but at least the payments should rise over time and hopefully match or beat inflation.

  7. What interest rate can I get with 50 million dollars a month is 10%-20% would be safe. (five years) will you chart out my earning for I cna see please.

  8. I have 3million dollars My childrens father just passed away and they want to borrow the money at 3.25% for one year. They will pay me 8,000.00 a month. Is this a smart thing for me to do ? I am 48 years old. am single and my house is paid for.

  9. rachel i think that is a very poor decision to be even considering. the only thing worse is that you are looking for advice on the internet.

  10. 40k a year for letting money sit in an account is great! Now, how to get one million dollars?

  11. What about REIT? I was reading couple of article on them and I saw that they offer 7 to 12 percent yield. But, the only problem is the tax rate, I read that the IRS tax you at 25 percent?

  12. I have to agree with tushank. The best place to put that kind of money would be in a mutual fund. Preferably an index mutual fund. History suggests that you’ll get an average of 10% a year.

  13. i would take that million dollars and rub in on my [censored]. money is meaningless, valueless paper that brainwashes the heard into living in this make believe system. you are all [censored]

  14. Rachel I bet you wouldn’t receive 1/2 of that money from your kids (no disrespect)..I have my million and u have yours…u spend yours and i’ll spend mine…no more gold diggers…the only business I lost money on was the one that my brother and I had as partners–bad idea. I’m 50 years young, contact me…I have my money invested in commercial real estate. Makes me more money than any Mutal Fund out there. Contact me and let’s talk, u sound interesting!

  15. Best advice I ever got in regards to family and money is..
    “Don’t lend money you don’t have to give”.

    I found this works in relation to friends too.
    If you don’t know why this works. Try it!

  16. sounds like a nine year old child wrote this article. 4% of 1 million is, duh. what i think the question was looking for; was what rate of interest one could achieve if one had enough money to put into investments that are not availible to the mass market. But thank you for the simple mathematics.

  17. Buy Gold Bullion, in the last 10 years it has risen 440%

    So average 44% per year compound that in yer pipe and smoke it.

  18. This is to Rachel Hemingway. I would take the money and invest it myself and create $12,500 a month off a safe account at around 5%. Then I would tell the kids that if they want to borrow from the earnings, maybe $6000 a month to see what they can do in a year. One thing is for sure, I’d protect my capital and invest with the interest. Here’s the deal, $6000 in disposable income would allow anyone to take down a couple of real estate deals and make a few quick turns. If your really nice than use all the interest money to make the investments. By doing it this way, they can make their own money over time. Remember something quick is a fast way to loserville. Trust your instincts because you wouldn’t be asking strangers if you didn’t question the idea. Wanna chat, I’m an experienced Real Estate Investor who could definately make you money on your capital, no strings or bs.

  19. I My name is Marlene and i have 4 Million that my granfather left me. There are many companys trying to reach me to invest. What should i do? I asked my lawyer and he said sure, why not. But then again he also wants some of my millions. I’m only 24.

  20. i wish i knew what it was like.i was wondering if 1 million people sent me 1 dollar if that would work without getting in trouble because i lost my job and struggling with two little girls.i would say that would be illegal.

  21. Marlene just pray and ask for guidance. then be patient and pay attention you’ll get an answer :)

  22. What a dream to work with these types of #’s! I now live off less than that 1 yrs interest of 41 k. I so could make that work PLUS have a mil in the bank! Wow I AM GOING TO WIN THE LOTTERY and it will take me a way from all of this substandard living and give a peace of mind!

  23. 1 million is nothing really. That’s only worth about 10 trades (5 buy and 5 sell). The risk is really high, but the gain is amazingly high also.

    Having this amount on your day trading account can bring you some power, but later on one can forget that it is a real money instead of number.

    I have a 500K on margin account, and my total trade receipt every 2 months is between $5 mil, and my average return is only 2.5% of my capital. Taxes are already been deducted. For 1 mil I can probably go up to about 1.5 mil trade receipt and about 3.5% gain on 1 mil every two months. Considering the amount of capital, I can do reverse trade whenever there is a down turn which is very profitable in this economic climate. 2 days ago , which is Thursday picked up AMD for 6.31 per share (20000 shares total)(126200 + broker fee),Yesterday, which is Friday sold it for 6.44 for a profit of $2600. Two hours later made a reverse trade (short) at $6.412, and bought it back @ $6.22 for a profit of $3840 (gross). Total profit is approximately $$6440 less taxes for the $3840. Not bad for two days income, but the capital on risk was pretty big.

  24. come on im only 19 just starting college but if you have 4 million dollars your life is an easy breeze from here on out, if you want to live an easy life and not have to deal with buying and selling stocks just buy houses and put them for rent, youll have enough money to support you and your whole family through out the generations. Also if you have big money like 4 million buy some commercial property and rent it out, thats some big easy money right there and you dont really got to worry about small repairs and all that.

  25. @ Peter Hamilton on December 31st, 2009 11:30 am

    “i would take that million dollars and rub in on my [censored]. money is meaningless, valueless paper that brainwashes the heard into living in this make believe system. you are all [censored]”

    I agree with you 100%, but because we live in a world that 97% of people think money is important and its EVERYTHING, then we have no choice but to suffer the consequenses! You cant reason with them so called “HUMANS”

    Look at it from another point of view, if you are poor, dont have a ferrari, or a jaguar or whatever and cant pay your bills etc… You are still happy with what you got! Because you have no other choice! “The human body gets used to anything you put it through” But these multimillion dollar humans are unhappy and uncomfortable because thay are so worried about how to keep their money from being deflated, stolen, fraudelently taken away, etc… i laught at these people! Stop trying to keep your money!!! When you die, you will take NOTHING!

    Now take my words of wisdom and give them good thought!…

    -Mr. Gonzalez
    “At the end we all lose”

  26. @ Mr Gonzales & Peter.

    So exactly why are you getting involved? Not quite sure. You both seem very confused with your premises. You seem to be assuming all those with money are fearful of loosing it and are therefore misserable, and all those without money have nothing to worry about and are therefore happy. Were this true, I doubt we’d have so many unhappy people looking for money (voiding the second premise), And a lot fewer happy rich people. I guess 97% of people don’t feel as you alien members of our populace do.

    But then perhaps you are human, so I’ll say what I know (this wont take long). Money may not bring happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with. In the mean time, and this may come as a shock to you, but many with money are quite happy. One can learn how to make money and just because it sounds like you never learned this art, and appear quite bitter about it, does not mean you should deter other well meaning folks around here from trying to increase their bottom line.

    Now I’ll agree you can’t take it with you, but you can give it to those you love and make their lives better and easier. I take great joy in the idea of giving my kids a better life than I had. And the richer I get the more joy I’ll get in blessing their lives, and my own, and my friends.

    Don’t lend money to family it will only get you in trouble.
    Don’t lend money to friends, it will only get you more friends.
    Don’t lend more money than you’re willing to lose.
    And lastly if you lend somebody $20 and you never see them again, it was probably worth it!

    Keep smiling and be smart with your money.

  27. I agree with Clint – the amount of interest on a million dollars does depend on so many variables, e.g. the rate of inflation, interest rates, the amount saved and over how long. Unfortunately the answer is never black and white. I teach compound interest to young adults and use this compound interest calculator. It’s useful as it has a selection of interest and inflation rates and calculates how much interest you earn on one million dollars, based on these variables. However, the downside of the site is that it focusses on long term compound interest – some of the kids find it hard to visualise so far in advance.

  28. There are even some checking accounts that earn interest so you don’t have to let your money sit in a savings account or tied up in bonds.

  29. rofl and here i thought poor people had problems also money is not just fake so don’t wipe ur censored with it lol people who say money has no value can bite my censored cause somthing of no value would not make the world go round fyi gold is just a shiny medal that people value its actually quite funny how humans fight over it so much.

  30. I guess it must be difficult to give away a large sum of money. So, you just keep us online for ages buying next to nothing. People today are jobless, homeless,foodless,coatless, and ashamed to ask for help. If you are interested in giving the money to someone who wants to help the most people we can as long as we live. We’ve done it for years on our income. There are people who need help so bad. If I am your contest winner, I would do all I can for those in need and would give you a report on those helped. The homeless veterans who don’t know where to go and think no one loves them would be my first recipient. That is all I have to say. Thanks for listening.

  31. Think Roth IRA. You don’t pay taxes when you take you’re withdrawals. It’s a long-term investment that you can start withdrawing when your 59.5 or if you have a hardship such as to avoid foreclosure, certain medical issues or if you want to go to college, or put money down on your first home. If you max it out, and chose a good mutual fund, then you could see yourself coming to a million if you start early in life. Even if you didn’t you could still max it out or at least put in something. If you Google a roth ira calculator and see what happens to a person who invests just 100 a month from age 25 to 67, assuming you will get about 8 percent, which really is obtainable (my Roth Ira just paid out 16.94 and since its inception its averaged 11.36 percent) you’d see you’d have amassed a small fortune. Best news is you can keep on letting the money roll over, you don’t have to take out any money at 70, if you don’t want to, and when you do the money is tax free. If you live in a state like I do, Florida, where your Roth is exempt from creditors, you got some protection. I’d say if you live in CA and someone tries to sue you, it’s up to the judge if they can take your Roth IRA, but in Florida, they can’t take it!!! Not unless you have over a million. You could even have a ten million dollar home here in Florida and your creditors cannot take your home. What if you or your kids got sick and couldn’t pay the bills? In CA, the creditors could go after your mutual fund/ira, but in Florida it’s a no go! I love living here, just don’t like hurricanes though. Small price to pay to know that nobody can rip you off!

  32. can anybody tell me how much 1mil dollars can earn on average in one year, if i make a diversified portfolio of 10 stocks.

  33. If you are into investing, the iraq dinars would be an excellent investment. Getting ready to revalue this currancey its going to be high. Now if you need fast money stand beside the road with a sign saying you’re homeless and you have a family of 4 to feed. You’ll be surprised how much money you’ll end up with. Most of these people have more than you think. They end up with more money than working a full week.

  34. more money ……more problems! money does not buy happiness or iner-peace.
    Instead of asking such mundane and materialistic question , you should be busy finding out how to be happy without material things! Money is the rule of all evil my friend, a person is empty if only strives and seeks money.
    Money Will Not Make You Happy, But Happiness Will Make You Money

  35. Y’all are sooo funny. But, there are some smart fella’s on this site. I think 90 percent of you dudes have gone facebookin’, searching for rachel hemmingway.

    To Mrs. Hemmingway: I am married to a sugar momma, a hot one at that :) We too are coming into some serious cash next year…. We dont know exactly what to do with it. I’m pretty sure though, to my pessimistic lefties on this site, that we will be a little happier than we are now. Just saying :)

    And to the fella that said that “money is the (root) of all evil”…. that sir, is actually incorrect….The Bible actually says “the love of money is the root of all evil” … Look it up; that book has been around for a while :)

    To all the rest: Good luck & God bless.

    Finally, we are going to do our best to hold on to the money we inherit, setting up college funds for our kids, and possibly sneakin’ off to Barbados for a couple of weeks….We will continue to tithe….I think that’s the safest investment of all :)

  36. Good evening,
    First off, anyone who says money is evil and makes people miserable, never had or have any! And I was one of them…Last year in June I was a student part time and worked overnights 6 days a wk hauling jet fuel at the local airport. I was blessed on Sept. 16th. I won the state Powerball locally. Instintly I was a multi-millionaire. I was very overwhelmed for about 3 months. Then decided to turn in the ticket and collect. I chose the lump sum which after taxes and penalties, I walked out with $22,245,759.58. I dont have family. Just an ex-wife and a daughter. I gave my ex-wife 300K and said goodbye forever (Censored named)….

    My daughter has 5 million at Fidelity getting 3.25%. She is 14yrs old and will get to tap into it by 21yrs old. She has 150K in college fund and I moved from my state across the country cause I was getting bothered by many people,(Lawyers, Accountants, investors, ect) and charities who never knew me before when I was struggling. They all had great ideas with my money…. I gave 1 million to St Jude children hospital in my daughters name, 100k to my local church that would stay open for me to sit and cry in after hrs and I gave 50k to ASPCA for animal care and I started 2 scholarship funds in my daughters name….

    The rest? I moved to North California to get away from all the parasites in my home town and start fresh in a place no one knew me… I own a pretty modest 4 bdrm Tuscany style house in the mountains overlooking Napa Valley, I own a Hummer H2 (Daily Driver), Aston Martin (wknd toy), Lamborghini (sold it), and a Ducati (Dream Bike). I bought a Ulysee Nardin Watch and a Omega. And I took a trip to Israel and Italy. That was all the splurging I did. After that, I bought a small cabin in Lake Tahoe where I go to chill out. Its a fixer upper that came out really nice after putting 70K into it. I bought it for 55K from the bank. I will give it to my daughter after she graduates college. I am going to school full-time now and the rest of the money is at Fideltiy and some over at Vanguard working for me. I have some with chase bank and some with BoA in small cd’s and I bought a few US T-bills..

    I have a safe at home with 1 million cash and some gold bars for an emergency. I bought a few firearms as Iam into guns and have very nice furniture and audio/video in my house. But thats pretty much it. I dont work anymore. I go to school and I live off interest and just pretty much go to class. Working on my Masters. I am looking into opening an “In n Out” Burger resturaunt here locally ( They are little gold mines) but I am not sure yet…. I am leaving whatever is left to my Child…. I am single, pretty well off and I am alot happier than I ever was as a struggling wage slave….

    Money is nothing but a symbol…. A symbol used for currency and buying and selling goods… Thats all. Its no more evil than wood, metal, or livestock which used to be used for currency…. If you want to get more money in your life. Visualize it! Trust me it works…. I read of a woman in Ca who did it and she won California megamillions… Her name is Cynthia Stafford (read her story for inspiration and motivation).. I read her story and started doing what she did. Reading Joseph Murphy books about the Subconscious mind and started to meditate nightly. I also bought some self hypnosis cd’s online and used them nightly to relax my mind and think of prosperity and wealth..

    In 3.5 months, I was the sole winner of 56 million in the Powerball. It can happen. Try it and you will see… You will thank me. I only ask that when you are rich, you pay it forward and help others with what you’ve learned. Being grateful and helping mankind is the key to God opening the kingdom of heaven thats in all of us….Remember… Jesus was made in our image…We are Gods greatest invention…. in Genesis He said we had reign over everything else living, animals, trees, ect…We are made in Gods image. So we possess the same mind power Jesus had. We can change our own lives and live it as we desire… Trust me it works..It took alot for me to believe it too but it worked for something very small for me one day and I was convinced. So Then I did it for exactly 56 million and it happened. Im telling you all… You will thank me for this….Thank you all and God bless every one of you. Good night…

  37. That is so awesome! You are so right. It is ingrained in our minds as we grow up that thoughts of wealth is selfish or greedy. Or that you have to work hard for money! So we end up working very hard all of our lives.

    I am sure you have heard of the Secret. It has helped me understand how powerful the mind truly is and that I have the power to change everything in my life. So now my thoughts are of abundance and gratitude!

    Enjoyed reading…I am very happy for you!

  38. i believe in keeping money safe. if you are lucky enough to inherit or win alot of money, do not invest in a business, lend money or gamble in the stock market. keep things simple. your money should be in 100% safe investments(cd(s)/treasuries). take care of yourself and your family. buy a sensible house, a sensible car and live carefree. do not blow your money. you will not get a second opportunity for financial security. oh yes, if you smoke, stop, if you are overweight, lose weight and if you don’t exercise, start. money and health is the way to go.

  39. @Alberto Rodriguz
    Your story is very positive and inspiring
    @ duke
    Good advice
    I really did not expect that from this forum. I came here looking for investment tips, but I was inspired get more out of it than a financial advice.

  40. hi Marlene i would invest in safe residential real estate i know plenty of people who done this and became very happy with the stabilization they got in return.
    also i did about 3 million my self with about 100 units and am very happy with the results it brought to me.

  41. Response to duke of sperl,
    If you have a lot of money, leaving it in the bank is a sure way to go from rich to poor. For purposes of civil discussion I will give you that your CDs and Treasuries are “100% safe” in that the bank or government will pay off the debt when due. Recent history has many examples where governments, from towns to nations have defaulted on their obligations. But it does not matter. If you have a fixed investment it will almost never keep up with inflation even if paid back with interest. So even though your investment is “100% safe” in that it will be paid back, when you do get it back, even with interest, it will have less purchasing power than when you invested it. With the US government and the US population drowning in historically high and unsustainable levels of debt, and oil about to get extremely expensive, inflation is coming… and soon.. and hard. If you are not invested in something that grows along with inflation, like real estate, a business, or the right part of the stock market, or commodities like metals, food, lumber, etc., inflation will eat away at your “safe” investments to the point where they are not worth the paper they are written on.

    I lived through the early 80’s, when inflation was over 14%. I would bet that most of you are not that old. At 14%, your money is worth HALF of its initial value after just FIVE years; 1/4 after 10 years, and 1/16 after 40 years. If Alberto is in his 30’s he can easily expect to live 40 years, but his 22 million will be worth just 1.5 million. Sounds like a lot, but barely enough for a comfortable retirement much less living like a rich guy.

    Banks are for suckers. That’s why bankers are rich, and most everybody else isn’t.

    Alberto, what you are doing is smart – invest in real estate, invest in businesses, invest in gold. Keep some in the bank, but not all of it or even most of it.

    Congratulatons on your good luck!

  42. Check Emigrant Direct’s website. They are paying out more like 0.80% intrest
    Not 4%.

  43. As I read these comments, I thought, “What a load of crap.” Oh yes, all the people commenting under this article have MILLIONS socked away. They are all financial experts. If you guys were that well off, you’d have better things to do with your time.

  44. I want 10 million dollars this weekend. How do accumulate 10 million dollars in one week? That’s what I want right now!

  45. first of all most people spend there millions fast and stupied or drink themselfs to death also for the people that say give me money or boohoo ive lost my job my best advice get a f****n job and earn your damn keep todays problems arnt because of the lack of money it s from to many people that are too f****n dumb to know right from wrong :P

  46. Good article with a few bits of advice and plenty of Trolls in the comment section since this was written 4 years ago!
    If you are still reading then this is what Im doing.

    Im in the fortunate position of searching now for a cash back investment on $1M .
    I have not found anything yet.Interest payback rates now are 2-4% if you want to get risky.
    US Realty is looking good but Im not a US Citizen so out of area taxes on any money you make will offset any big gains.
    I think Im better off just Keeping both my rental Properties (New buildings with great contingency funds ,which is were I get my $1M) which net me $48,000 a year PLUS Real Estate goes up(Canada ) and although it will go down ,it will always go back up,and I get $48,000K a year for the rest of my life.

    Hope this Helps.

  47. Dont forget that in the UK the annual interest is taxed due to it being seen as an income.

    So if you have 1 million GBP in the bank and the intest rate is 4% you will earn £40k.

    The tax man will come along and take 20% from that leaving you with

    £32K. Which is still a nice amount but dont forget that is not spending any of the 1 million for a whole year.

    It is true what they say now. If your a family of 4, man wife and 2 children. To be able to retire you will need at least 1.5 million GBP.

    You could use the £500k to map off motgage, c/cards or loans and leave youself with say 100k for the year while the 1 million make you 32k interest.

    Thats my idea of thinking anyway.

    Obviously you can retire on 1 million if you are a single bloke at 40 living in a 1 bed appartment and is happy to do that for the rest of his life with no outlandish spending.

  48. Wow, what I wouldn’t do for the peace of mind that money would provide. I’d build myself a small cabin on a private piece of land with a creek, pond, and woods. My little nephew would have a generous education fund. My sis and nephew would get a yearly transfer. I guess I’d take a trip once in a while, but mostly I’d stay on my place raising farm animals and gardening. I enjoy solitude.

  49. after a short working career in civil engineering and teaching math the rest of the time i feel that a reward for my efforts in trying to better my life will be in the range of 5 to 10 million from the state lottery very soon.this fantasy is keeping my hopes up to the point of not considering committing suicide . it really is working. At 60+ I feel that i should be living as comfortably as my college educated friends. I had a rough chilhood expereince and tried to overcompensate by becoming an engineer for some stupid ass reasoning. I became frustrated by not being smart enough to understand the importance of working hard. Somewhere along the line I felt that if I have a large amount to work with I can make a lot of people happy somehow.by keeping them busy in saving the planet from the pollution of the environment.

  50. I am the stepfather of four beautiful girls and a lovely wife. The father was a dead beat dad and now my wife has full custody of the children. We both work and try our best to support them but I admit, it’s hard. They are fed, clothed and have a roof over their head but I wish I could do more. Vacations are few and far in between. I just started playing the lottery and welcome the story from Alberto Rodriguez. I believe in “The Secret” and visualizing, so hopefully that helps. All I ask is I have $150,000 to pay off the house and at least have some breathing room. If I win the millions, that would be awesome but at least something. What blows my mind is these people that are billionaires. If you go to Forbes Magazine online and look, we have tons of them. If you do the simple calculation, you question why we are in such econmy crisis right now in the US. If you take 1 million dollars and place it in the bank making 3% interest, that is $30,000 a year. Now, if you take 1 billion dollars, that would be 300 million a year. Of course you have to move things around from bank to bank but you get the idea. My question is this… We have over 300 million people in the US now, so wouldn’t that allow every to become millionaires? Of course, you can have a couple billionaires do this and everyone would be sitting pretty. The US could get out of debt and we could grow like crazy. You know why this doesn’t happen? The government. I know there is a big scam going on and they will not allow everyone to become millionaires. It’s just not right!!! I think those billionaires are very generous and would work together to make it happen but I’m sure the government would step in a do something. The American Dollar would be worthless if that happened, so face it, not everyone will make the money they desire.

  51. I agree with the statement on municipal bonds. They do tend to have lower interest rates, but when you look at TAX FREE, you can’t beat em.

  52. Take the one million dollars put it in a broker trade account, purchase from 15 to 20 solid blue chips companies that pay dividends anually, spreading the 1 million as even as posible between them, an overall yield of 5% will produce about 50K anually, not to mention the capital gain obtained in the stocks. and if you let compounding magic work, you will double the one million in less that 10 years. Not too bad.

  53. If you have $1 million – it is total stupidity to invest all that money in stocks or fixed deposits. There are very prime well located properties in certain cities which will never lose value and can be rented for a high high return – in some cases almost 10%. For example if you bought a studio apartment in a prime area of London – and used one of the short-let agencies to manage the property – you could easily make at least 8-10% return consistently as well as gain capital appreciation. You can get 2 studios for 300k each and achieve an income of at least $3000-$4000 a month. With the remaining $400k – put it in other properties / investments – or even fixed deposits in other countries where interest rates are higher – for example HSBC bank in many developing countries gives a return of 10% on a fixed deposit – it is a safe bank and even if the country is risky at least your money is with a safe Bank. This way you can achieve a total income of around $80k and be diversified as well.

    I would not recommend taking a mortgage right now because then your risk level goes up and if the property market crashes holding on to a property with a mortgage is much more difficult than having one without a mortgage. Warren Buffet said this – the best investment in the world is a property fully owned without a mortgage. I don’t believe in Stocks – you can lose all your money in Stocks – but in property it goes up and down but you dont lose it all in one day…not even in the riskiest of times and if you buy PRIME central LOndon or New York Property even a studio – then it’s a very safe bet and will always have a high demand. Stay away from new build properties and up and coming areas – those are huge mistakes inexperienced investors make. Prime central Properties in established areas will give consistent returns and capital safety.

    Another Idea – buy a small hotel with $1 million in some high tourist resort area of Europe. People will always go there.

  54. We would live off the interest along with my pension and leave the principal to my family once I leave this earth. People have to know how to mange their money otherwise they’ll be broke within a few years, so you need to think and think hard of how you are going to do it, and keep most of the money in the bank.

  55. A person claims that today (June 5, 2012) the local bank’s trust department is paying him 6% interest on his money. How much money would it take to get 6% interest?

  56. Hell for a million dollars cash tax free there is not but one thing I would not do and that it. Hurt my kids everything other than that is fine with me. Sorry yes I really would do anything for the right ammount of money from being a real hitman to blowing up Anything I guess it’s good rich people dont read this because they could hire me to help them get rid of ANY trouble they have from a bothersome neighbor or wife or husband what the hell anything

  57. I just wanted to thank everyone for an enjoyable thread. I have heard since I was very very young (thirty something years old at this time) that one can earn 5% on one million dollars “sitting” in a bank of some sort. Basically, someone without any investing desire or know-how can live off of the $50,000 interest every year after paying taxes. Obviously this interests certain people for two reasons: they willnot run out of money & they consider a $50,000 annual salary without having nto pay for a commute in some fashion or another a desirable prospect.

    This is why I indeed googled “how much interest can I earn on 1 million dollars” as the beginning of the article predicted. I am good with money, but I have never been rich. On top of that, I have faced (as many many others have) obstacles which hindered my money-making and money-savings capabilities (in essence, forced me to go into ‘survival mode’ while also forcing me to access my emergency funds). I did this but always have saved for retirement with the bare minimum of the amount the my company matches and without ever considering borrowing from my retirement fund. Life can be difficult though. I won’t mention my hardship but some of numerous examples would be death of a loved one, unforseen loss of a career, divorce, child support, medical costs for loved ones, lawyer fees, etc, etc, etc.

    Anyways I babbled enough. I do believe money can provide good people(and bad people just as in any category in life) more time to spend on themselves and loved ones). I disagree with anyone who has a problem with someone making money or having money. It is a part of life and important in my opinion. Keep doing the right thing for those with more severe money issues…if you have a chance to pay debt then take it. There might be a time when that opportunity is gone. I am debt free besides my mortgage(an acceptable debt I am told), but times have been extremely tough and have been for two years. I did not expect this to happen, and it is taking longer than expected which is also disheartening. During these times the added retirement savings + the added “principle only” payments to the mortgage company have been put on hold. I do play the lottery moderately and/or on a very small basis in my opinion. I realize some think lottery playing is a horrible way to use ones money. I disagree as you can’t win if you don’t play. This last part was mainly added to mr gonzalez’ post about winning the megamillions. I don’t plan on ever winning, but I do play sometimes. Oh and I have the absolute worst luck w/lotteries LOL but a friend seems to win stuff(so he has always claimed LOL). God Bless

  58. You made some good points there. I looked on the web for additional information about the issue and
    found most individuals will go along with your views on this web site.

  59. There is a way to have a sustainable income as long as the system is around, that’s with Corporate 30 year CD – but you’ll have to form an S-Corp to be able to purchase as they are for Corporations. Some were in Europe, but there are other financial institutes that handle them also – but by getting this you purchase one for about $4 million (3.8 million technically) and then each month have the interest deposited into an account – trust or other corporate or non-profit account.
    Then from this account you pay yourself, send money to a real estate maintenance account, to trusts for specific people (remember to have a set amount in the trust so that the beneficiary can’t touch the principle only the interest. This will make sure that the trust isn’t depleted.)

    Of could there should be a Tax account to cover taxes, plus a number of other accts or trusts to handle various business. Over the 30 years the CD will earn around 10 million – at the end the original funds used to purchase the CD will still be left to reset or restart the cycle over again. That’s why I say that as long as this system is viable, an income that is sustainable would be possible.

    This is of course simplified, but then this is also how some large smart corporations make themselves viable streams of income to sustain themselves.

  60. If I don’t win any part of this here publishers clearing house that’ll be
    alright because not everyone gets a chance in life to win just one
    thing. I myself never won a thing, maybe it’s because I am not that
    lucky in life. I hope that wherever any publisher clearing house staff
    drives safe to their destination, and that anyone that wins has a
    BLESSED LIFE. Maybe some day I will win something some time.
    Thanks for letting me say what I had on my mind. I do wish to win
    though. God Bless You All.

  61. I dis agree with, stocks bonds, mutual funds etc. I need any, one out there to prove me wrong, they can’t.. You invest your million dollars, in any stock bond etc. I will invest half of that in real estate, lets see who gain the most money in a years time.. I buy 10 duplexes (doubles) I charge $650. per month per unit that 20 units times $650 equals $13,000 in 10 months, I don’t count monies from the other 2 months, that for water bill taxes etc. in 10 years, I gain in excess of $130,000. no stocks or bond will give you that kind of return.. I stick to real estate,

  62. There are some really great and insiring stories on here as well as some great suggestions on investing. Koodos to those that actually like helping others out. I find the best thing to do with my money and beleive me it is not much. I am a disabled veteran with a rating of 70%, I still manage to hold a full time job. I am married and have one son in college and a daughter starting next year. I make below $50,000 a year but still manage to put $5000.00 a year to my Roth IRA. I also Donate what I can to the FISH Pantry to help feed families hungry here locally.

    It is not how much you have but what good can be done with what you have to work with. Live within your means and help others anyway you can. I promise you this..If I ever came into a substantial amount of money I would be sure to help others less fortunate before helping my own family. I will be rich when I get to Heaven, I wish I could help others more so than I do as the feeling is so great everytime I get a thank you and a child smiles for the shoes I was able to provide them.

    Not sure who but someone once said something soprofound to me that it changed my outlook on life.
    ” I once wanted a new pair of shoes, until I saw a man with no feet”

  63. Wealth Literacy, Quality Income, Daily Self Improvement, Entrepreneurship is only getting easier.
    Like Seth Godin says the enemy is within the brain and its called base fear. A million a year paying minimum $40k in interest is a very, very cool thing. Im a organic hippy, spiritualist type of guy and am stocked about learning Accounting, Economics [macro – micro] and following stocks. Earning is just one side of wealth and theres lots to it more than that. There all kinds of formulas proving people with normal jobs becoming wealthy. My gig is to help business, small business normally to help sell and promo there services and products. WHY? 2 reasons. 1- I love selling via anything like pr, marketing, sales work what have you its both fun, challenging and highly rewarding to take people from fuck you I don’t want any to, omg i’m so excited I finally bought this!!!! 2- I to need formalized work as is the human condition. 3- okay… i said 2 but there 3… c, im evolving… ok I want fine ass houses and cars, always have liked them, even as a kid. and today its easier than ever. Like being fit and thin and healthy…. its a self set of actions that provides this, no just because. MEMEBER i wrote healthy too, no skinny sick thin. Thanks-

  64. I need a rich person as a mentor, anyone looking to do some charity work? My Corporate job is starting to get VERY lame. I work in Boca, live in Ft. Lauderdale and hang out all the time in Miami. Let’s do lunch! I’ll foot the first lunch tab. Your on your own after that.

  65. First let me start by saying hi to all of you. I am 34 years old. I come from a small town in West Virginia where big coal and gas companies accumulate most of the money. I’m a cabinet builder by trade 17 years plus. I have worked hard all my life and have very little to show for it. Money and security didn’t mean that much to me until recently (past 5 years) because I was always able to get by on my own accord. A few years ago things changed for me when our local economy hit a slump. I was laid off and had to seek other employment (cutting grass, roofing, side jobs of any kind). My wife was in school at the time taking computer programming classes. I’ve always had an interest in computers so I decided to go back to school myself. To fund my education I have taken out loans in excess of $25,000 and I am currently in my last and final class practicum to achieve my Associates degree in Microsoft application support desk. During the last couple years my wife has had to drop out of college due to medical reasons (diabetes, sarcoidosis of the lungs, inflammatory liver). I have never made more than 30,000 a year but I hope and plan on changing that soon. I am back to building and installing commercial and residential casework for the past year (at 1.00 more an hour than I used to make) for the company that laid me off (yes I was called back) so I and my wife can survive. The cost of living around here has steadily risen in the past five years due to oil franking and it has made it nearly impossible for me and my wife to survive with less than 30,000 a year income. The company I work for has one computer but the boss refuses to use it and doesn’t like email for some odd reason. I would very much like to open up my own cabinet shop, I have many ideas but no capital. It’s funny how most of the work I’ve done has been for either lawyers, doctors, or bankers offices yet I can’t even afford medical insurance for myself or my wife (but that’s another story). On many occasions myself and only one other person (a partner at work) have worked on jobs for our shop that have accumulated in excess of $50,000 in three months time or less (yes only two of us doing all of the actual construction and most of the installation). I would very much love to stay in the cabinet/countertop casework business because I like doing the work that I do. I don’t really have a point to make but I am seeking a financial backer to open up my own shop and make both of us a great deal of cash. I feel that I have the intelligence and the fortitude to accomplish this, but without an initial investment of at least $250,000 I may never achieve this. With that investment alone I could probably buy out the name of our current cabinet shop (which has done very good business 30yrs. +) because our boss is looking to retire soon. Otherwise I am changing careers and starting all over which is no biggie to me because I plan on staying in school so I can become smarter in order to achieve financial freedom as a back up plan. I guess my real point is that if I had a million dollars to invest in my own entrepreneurship I would certainly be set for life and feel as if I could make more money for a financial backer than they could ever get off of stocks, bonds, or possibly even the housing market in the long run. The United States is full of chiefs, but few Indians. I don’t see how our country can survive in the coming future by only producing our own energy, lots of paperwork, and red tape.

  66. critique this 4 me

    give [BLESS], instruct, raise, retain!!!!

    give [BLESS] – 25c to someone.

    instruct – that person that they’re not to keep that 25c, but they’re to give [BLESS] it to someone else

    you then go out and raise 50c,
    you retain 25c of the 50c that you raised because you were obedient and followed instructions, thus earning 100% interest on the money!!! [REPEAT, REPEAT!!!]

    when the other ‘person[s]’ embrace the above, they will be BLESSED in the same manner!!!

    per our conversion, u have a concern about raise. think of it as promoting self-wealth for others without you or them getting others into the ‘business’ to help generate income [pyramid, scam, etc.] self-sustaining

  67. To the gentleman who won the lottery and moved to North Carolina, I’m a combat veteran with a family and cannot locate work, I would be more than happy, and very privileged to work for you, im not asking for a handout, I will do an honest days work for an honest days pay!! I tried your visualization theory on winning the lottery but in 4 month’s I have not won more than $1 or $2, I’am going to keep trying to visualize myself winning the lottery, but I have a greater need for employment, maybe if you have nothing in the way of employment, you may know some business people in North Carolina that do have a need for a very hard working combat veteran former Marine, please let me know, I’m getting to the point of desperation, I dont ever want to find myself on food stamps but it is getting to that point, not even sure how much longer my wife and son will have a roof over their head!! Any help, as in employment, or leads to employment would put me in your debt!! I would be forever grateful, and would never forget your assistance, and if your visualization theory ever did work for me (god willing!) I would pay it forward to another veteran who is having similar financial woes, I would take care of my family first of course, but I think for the first week or so I would mingle among the homeless and hand out $100 bills until my hands had to many blisters to continue!!! God bless you sir, your story is very inspiring, at one point (rock bottom) I was thinking my family would be better off if I was no longer around, but I discovered that most life insurance policy’s dont pay out if your demise is self inflicted!! Doesnt matter now, had to get rid of my policy, couldnt make the payments any longer!! If I would have only known I was going to be in this situation I would have played “hero” and would have ensured that I didnt return from Iraq or Afghanistan, that would have set my wife up with $450,000 life insurance (which I believe is tax free?) Plus she would have recieved a portion of my active duty pay for the rest of her life thru Navy Mutual, as well as my social security, which isnt a ton of money, but she could have lived comfortably off of what I left her, she could have quit work (which she had to do anyway after her 3rd back surgery! ) Oh I almost forgot the additional civilian life insurance policy that I had prior to my first combat tour and kept it for the other 4 combat tours that followed, it was more expensive than most, rates went up quite drastically when I returned to a combat zone, but it was worth it because it payed off if I was killed in combat, plus I was a combat search and rescue trap team leader so being a flyer it also paid off if I was killed in a helicopter crash, even if I wasnt in a combat zone it would’ve paid off even if it was a training accident, an aviation policy is quite expensive as well but also well worth it, that policy was $250,000, which I had set up to pay $25,000 a year for 10 years (after the first payment, all other payment would have been more due to interest, they would invest the remaining and any interest was paid yearly, 70/30 split, but if they invested and the market went south, my wife was garaunteed the $25,000 even if the policy underwriter lost money on the market, and if she passed prior to the 10 year payout it reverted to my son once he turned 25 (with interest, and a five year payout) he could collect early if he was a full-time college student with a “C” average or above!! But that is all water under the bridge, and money under the bridge as well. Sorry for blabbing, I’ve yapped enough, again God bless you and yours!!!

  68. The best mentors start with you. I am a true believer anybody that takes the time to stumble upon this page is attracting what they want. Are thoughts lead to actions which creates the wealth…We live in a generation where knowledge is freely accessible. Start facing you’re your fears,love,and be honest in understand who you really are. That’s the starting process in building an empire. Free you mind and get out of your comfort zone to really enjoy a greater comfort.

  69. What the hell…..too….long
    If the investors give me a million
    I’ll pay 80,000 per annum for the rest of their entire lives
    100% guaranteed

  70. My technique is very simple
    The country where I reside provides…..about 13.25% annual interest for fixed deposits for locals
    So 1mil turns to 0.7mil for max tax level…still
    0.7mil x 13.25 / 100 = 92750
    I charge a fee
    U ll get 80000+ per annum

  71. duke of sperl, mark smerty is deadset right, puuting money in a bank is a waste of time,
    you need to spend your money on real estate, freehold investment propertys , say you purchase a $300,000 property you rent that out but wait you buy three propertys at $300,000 you may want to live in one,up to you however know this the home you live in is a liability not an investment as you are paying for its up keep and rates, however say you have two rentals charge out at $350 each a fortnight obviously prices will differ over the years but any way say take out of that $100 a week set aside for maintenance and rates over the year so you are left with $600 a week of passive income, now interest rates for saving are below 2% as a general rule and in japan its even negative interest rates -2% so you would lose money if its in your bank, so 1 miilion dollars with 2% interest will give you roughly $50 a day thats only $350 a week in passive income where as rental investment you could almost double that amount, im no financial advisor so its against the law to give you financial advice, what i would do is just spend all the money on real estate, plus as well those investment propertys you can leverage the bank to borrow more money and purchase more investment property and you rent them out and your mortgages get paid from the rent, none of this is rocket science just good common sense, and it will probably not only make you a millionare but a multi millionare

  72. Hello everyone!
    I am a restaurant owner, I bought the building where I have one of my restaurants from my previous landlord. I am currently paying him 5% interest on a 10 year term, I will have a balloon payment at the end of the term. I current owe 1,114.00 I am trying to find someone who is looking to earn interest on a $1.2 million dollar loan. Below is a scenario of how you will make money on a loan. I offer to pay 4% interest which is the going rate at the moment

    $ 1.200,000 Loan

    $ 700,212.00 Interest paid to you in 25year term.

    $ 1.900,212. total paid back in 25 years

  73. Wow, Almost all the advice here is total crap. Investing in real estate is pointless. The whole point of having a large sum of money would be to live off the interest. Real estate isn’t going to pay you anything unless you buy and then SELL the property.

  74. We have invested in stocks, mutual funds and real estate. As someone stated earlier, you make the most with rental properties, but it is hard work. I make more from rental property per month than I do from a mid-mgmt job with a Fortune 10 company and stock dividends after 30+ years employment.
    Live lower than your means and your wealth will grow with time.

  75. Hey Stan, have you ever heard of renting out the property that you own? That’s real estate investing 101. In the future, try not to provide your opinion if you know next to nothing.

  76. So basically the richest people could put a million dollars into the bank for each US citizen and the could live of the interest for the rest of their lives?? Why do we still have problems with homelesness?

  77. There are about 323 million people in the US. To put 1 million dollars into a bank account for each of them, it would require 323 trillion dollars (323,000,000 * 1,000,000) . There aren’t any rich people with that much money.

  78. I you’ve worked hard enough to save a cool million bucks, don’t invest it anything that loses value and loses your hard earned money. Don’t be greedy, buy 5 year CD’s at 2% and watch your money grow ten percent every five years, guaranteed and insured!

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