Becoming a Millionaire -- A Real-Life Example

Adjusted for inflation, $5,000 in 1940 is equivalent to $66,500 today. $66,500 is no small amount of money now, and -- though I wasn't alive -- $5,000 was no small amount of money in 1940. The average salary at the time was $1,300, so he invested 3.8 times the average salary in that first year.

Investing $5,000 now might set you on the path to becoming a multi-millionaire in the year 2070, and you'll be better off than if you hadn't, but $1,000,000 won't go so far in 2070 based on historical inflation.

To get that same purchasing/giving power in 2070 that this guy has today, you'd have to start investing with $66,500 according to inflation or assuming the average salary today is $30,000, the same factor of 3.8 would require an initial investment of $114,000.

1940 average salary info: http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decade40.html