Turn $5k Into $50,000

An investment that grows tenfold sounds like the answer to our financial prayers. It’s tricky if you want to do it quickly and still sleep at night but it can be done if you plan carefully. Alternatively, you can take your time and play it safe. Or there’s a middle course. Our three experts examine strategies for three risk profiles: low, moderate and high.

If you’re willing to take a lot of risk – the type that might give you sleepless nights – you can potentially turn $5000 into $50,000 in a matter of weeks using strategies such as contracts for differences, trading forex or day trading. But you are just as likely to turn that $5000 into nothing if you have no real idea what you’re doing.

“There are rare individuals out there – I believe a handful globally – who can pick markets and add to market efficiency,” says Steve Greatrex, financial adviser from Wealth on Track. “But it is not me – and it probably isn’t you.”

Another fairly high-risk approach is something called “double gearing”. This would involve using the $5000 as a deposit for a margin loan and then using this loan to finance an investment in a geared share fund.

High-octane strategies like these aren’t for everyone. Which investment strategy you choose will depend on how much risk you are prepared to take and how investment savvy you are. You can put your toe in the water and do it slowly. Or you do something more radical and jump right in.

We have asked three experts to come up with strategies for a low-, moderate- or high-risk option. These all assume you make no additional contributions of your own money, which means it will take time to reach your $50,000 goal. But of course you could speed things up by regularly topping up your investment.

It’s also important to actually start and not put off a decision, because the sooner your money is working for you the quicker it will grow.