“The bad news is that time flies. The good news is that you’re the pilot.”
These are the words of Michael Altshuler, entrepreneur and successful keynote speaker. Sage words for life and massively appropriate to the realm of share investing too. No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to take control of your finances and start building a retirement nest egg by investing in UK shares.
Modern life is expensive and it can be difficult to start investing for your retirement. The good news, though, is that you don’t have to spend a fortune trying to build yourself a financial buffer for your later years. And thanks to help from experts like The Motley Fool it doesn’t have to be a chore
Studies show that investors who buy UK shares and hold them for the long term make an average annual return of 8% to 10%. So say you’re 40 years of age with nothing in the way of savings in investments but decide to start building a stocks portfolio. If you can invest £300 a month in UK shares you’re likely to have made a real-world return of between £273,000 and £370,000 by the time you hit 65.
Making millions with an ISA
Quite a tidy sum, I think you’ll agree, and one that could finance a very comfortable post-retirement lifestyle. But here’s the thing. Even if you have no savings at 40, you still have plenty of time to do even better and join the growing ranks of Stocks and Shares ISA millionaires who are getting seriously rich by buying UK shares.
Very few of those ISA millionaires who made their fortunes in the 2010s could be considered spring chickens, of course. Many of them started building their five-star portfolios in middle age and ended up retiring early and living the life of Riley.
How so? Well they used the 2008/09 stock market crash as an opportunity to buy high-quality UK shares at little price. They then watched them explode in value as the economic cycle moved into recovery; corporate profits across their portfolios bounced back; and investor confidence returned with gusto.
Getting rich with UK shares
There’s no reason that I can see why share investors can’t do the same thing today. Investor appetite for UK shares remains at rock-bottom, nerves still shattered after the stock market crash of early 2020. This means that plenty of top-quality stocks still trade at ultra-cheap prices. Stocks which still have very bright futures and strong balance sheets to help them ride out the Covid-19 crisis.
I’ve continued to buy UK shares despite the uncertain economic outlook. History shows us that UK share prices always rebound strongly after stock market crashes. And those brave enough to continue buying whilst others sit on the sidelines can get seriously rich in the process. As I say, you don’t necessarily have to invest a fortune to build a terrific retirement fund. The Motley Fool’s huge library of special reports can help you on your journey too.