How Much Should You Invest Each Month?
August 19, 2026
5 min read
- The critical variable is not the amount but the time. CHF 200 a month from age 30 clearly beats CHF 500 a month from age 45 — on lower total contributions.
- At CHF 500 a month over 30 years, roughly two thirds of the final value comes from compounding, not from your contributions.
- The right contribution is the one you can sustain in a bad year. An ambitious amount paused after eight months delivers less than a modest one that runs for thirty years.
There is no correct amount. There is only one you will sustain — and that matters more than almost any optimisation.
"How much should I invest each month" usually gets answered with a rule of thumb: ten percent of income, or whatever is left at month end. Neither helps much. What helps is knowing the orders of magnitude — and understanding which lever actually matters.
01The scenarios
All figures calculated at a 7% annual return, roughly the long-run expectation for broad equity markets. These are model calculations, not forecasts — real paths are far less even.
| Monthly | After 10 years | After 20 years | After 30 years | Contributed (30 y) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHF 100 | 17,308 | 52,093 | 121,997 | 36,000 |
| CHF 200 | 34,617 | 104,185 | 243,994 | 72,000 |
| CHF 300 | 51,925 | 156,278 | 365,991 | 108,000 |
| CHF 500 | 86,542 | 260,463 | 609,985 | 180,000 |
| CHF 1,000 | 173,085 | 520,927 | 1,219,971 | 360,000 |
The interesting column is the last one. At CHF 500 a month you contribute CHF 180,000 over thirty years and end with roughly CHF 610,000. More than CHF 430,000 — over two thirds of the result — was not saved. It was waited for.
02Why time outweighs the amount
Two people, same return, different starting point.
Starts at 30, CHF 200/month
CHF 243,994
30-year horizon
Contributed: CHF 72,000
Contributed: CHF 72,000
Starts at 45, CHF 500/month
CHF 158,481
15-year horizon
Contributed: CHF 90,000
Contributed: CHF 90,000
The second person contributes CHF 18,000 more and ends with roughly CHF 85,000 less. The difference is fifteen years in which, for the first person, returns were earning returns.
The practical consequence: if you are torn between "start later with more" and "start now with little", the answer is almost always start now with little. You can raise the amount at any time. You cannot recover the lost years.
03How to set your contribution
Instead of a percentage rule, a sequence helps. It answers not only how much, but what comes first.
First: emergency fund. Three to six months of expenses in an instantly accessible account. Without that buffer, the savings plan becomes the emergency fund — and has to be liquidated at the worst possible moment.
Second: expensive debt. Paying off a 6% consumer loan is a guaranteed 6% return. No equity market offers guarantees.
Third: Pillar 3a. The tax deduction acts like an immediate additional return in the year you contribute. How that compares with unrestricted investing is covered in Savings Plan or Pillar 3a.
Fourth: the savings plan for whatever remains after that.
04Raising the amount without noticing
The most effective lever is not your starting contribution but how it develops. Directing half of every pay rise into the savings plan lifts your savings rate substantially over the years without ever reducing your standard of living.
What that produces: on CHF 6,000 net income over 25 years, a 10% savings rate (CHF 600 a month) reaches roughly CHF 486,000. At 15% (CHF 900 a month) it reaches roughly CHF 729,000. A savings rate of 15% instead of 10% is worth nearly a quarter of a million here.
05For children, the same logic in extreme form
If time is the strongest variable, a portfolio for a newborn is the extreme case. CHF 50 a month from birth compounds at 7% to roughly CHF 21,536 by the eighteenth birthday, on contributions of CHF 10,800.
Leave that same portfolio untouched until age forty and it grows to a multiple of that without another franc going in. How to set this up in Switzerland — whose name the account is in, how it is taxed, what happens at eighteen — is covered in our children's account guide.
06Frequently asked questions
What percentage of income should you invest?
As a rough orientation, 10 to 20% of net income once the emergency fund and expensive debt are handled. More decisive than the percentage is whether the amount is sustainable over years.
Is a savings plan worth it with small amounts?
Yes, especially with a long horizon. CHF 100 a month over 30 years compounds at 7% to roughly CHF 122,000 on contributions of CHF 36,000. What matters is that fixed per-execution fees do not eat into the small amount.
Should I increase the contribution each year?
It is one of the most effective levers available. Automatically routing part of every pay rise into the plan lifts the savings rate noticeably without changing your accustomed standard of living.
What if I temporarily cannot afford the contribution?
Savings plans can usually be reduced or paused at any time. From an investment perspective a reduced amount is almost always better than a full pause, because the rhythm survives.
What if my income is irregular?
Set the plan at an amount you could sustain in your weakest month and top it up with lump sums in good months. A low, stable contribution plus occasional additions is more robust than a high one that gets suspended regularly.
Should I pay down my mortgage or invest?
It depends on your mortgage rate, your marginal tax rate and whether you amortise indirectly via Pillar 3a. With low mortgage rates there is a strong case for investing, since interest is deductible. Worth calculating individually with a professional.
How much do I need for financial independence?
As a rough orientation, 25 times annual expenses, derived from a withdrawal rate of around four percent. In Switzerland, state and occupational pensions come on top, which changes the amount required.
07Keep reading
Overview
Everything about investing regularly, from costs to taxes.
Start with an amount that fits you
The arvy ETF Savings Plan invests weekly — change the amount whenever you like.
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To the savings plan →This article was written by Thierry Borgeat, co-founder of arvy, and reviewed by Patrick Rissi, CFA, and Florian Jauch, CFA.
Disclaimer: arvy AG is a manager of collective assets authorised by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA under Art. 24 of the Collective Investment Schemes Act (CISA). This article is for information purposes only and constitutes neither investment advice nor tax or legal advice, nor an offer or solicitation to buy or sell financial instruments. The calculations shown are model calculations based on the stated assumptions and are not forecasts; they assume a constant return compounded monthly at the stated nominal annual rate. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Equity investments are subject to price fluctuations; losses up to the total loss of the capital invested are possible. Tax consequences differ by canton and by individual situation — please clarify yours with a professional.
