![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/3bfb00777aa96de23c79191969a6f77e.jpeg\")
Image source: Getty Images <\/p>\n Image source: Getty Images <\/p>\n
Investing in\u00a0S&P 500\u00a0index funds has made millions of people wealthy over the decades. And the numbers behind it are genuinely staggering.<\/p>\n
Over the last 10 years, the index has delivered an average annualised return of 14.2%. But over the longer arc of history, the gains have been closer to 10%.<\/p>\n
So if a 40-year-old started investing \u00a3500 a month today at this 10% rate and kept going for 25 years, what would they have by retirement?<\/p>\n
The answer\u2019s around \u00a3663,416. But, for investors willing to pick individual stocks rather than simply track the index, the numbers can look very different.<\/p>\n
Tesla: a decade of extraordinary returns <\/p>\n
Tesla\u2018s\u00a0(NASDAQ:TSLA) perhaps the most vivid illustration of what successful stock-picking can deliver. Over the last 10 years, the electric vehicle (EV) pioneer has generated a staggering average annualised total return of 41.7%.<\/p>\n
To put that in context, an investor drip feeding \u00a3500 a month into\u00a0Tesla\u00a0shares over this 10-year period is now sitting on \u00a3853,107. That\u2019s more than a passive index investment is estimated to deliver in less than half the time.<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s driven such an extraordinary performance?<\/p>\n
This phenomenal gain stems from Tesla\u2019s unique position of being at the intersection of multiple transformational technologies simultaneously.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, the company\u2019s gone from a niche luxury EV maker to one of the world\u2019s dominant EV brands. At the same time, it\u2019s built an EV charging infrastructure network, while also laying the groundwork for fully autonomous driving.<\/p>\n
Combined, its\u00a0Gigafactories, software-driven margin structure, and direct-to-consumer sales model created a business unlike anything that existed before in the automotive sector. And the market rewarded that novelty handsomely.<\/p>\n
Is Tesla still worth buying in May? <\/p>\n
The bull case for buying Tesla shares remains genuinely exciting. Institutional analysts have flagged\u00a0Tesla\u2019s autonomous driving and robotics ambitions as potentially capable of generating revenues that dwarf the existing car business.<\/p>\n
This explosive growth potential is why Tesla shares trade at a substantial premium, with some projections expecting it to climb even higher to over $500.<\/p>\n
Of course, lofty expectations leave little room for error. And despite achieving remarkable results over the last decade, signs of weakness are starting to emerge.<\/p>\n
Tesla\u2019s brand has taken a meaningful reputational hit in key markets following CEO Elon Musk\u2019s foray into politics. When combined with increasingly fierce competition from Chinese EV manufacturers such as BYD, Tesla\u2019s sales in key markets including Europe have softened.<\/p>\n
Of course, none of this might matter if the firm\u2019s venture into robotics plays out as expected. However, this too comes with significant execution risk. And delays to the timeline, paired with weakening EV sales, could leave Tesla stock vulnerable to a correction.<\/p>\n
So what\u2019s the verdict <\/p>\n
The S&P 500 remains one of the most reliable wealth-building vehicles available to any investor. But\u00a0Tesla\u2019s decade of returns shows what\u2019s possible when a truly transformational business gets the execution right.<\/p>\n
Whether it can repeat that performance from here is the central question. Autonomous driving and robotics are very promising avenues for continued growth. However, with so much of this growth already baked into Tesla\u2019s valuation, it isn\u2019t a risk I\u2019m personally willing to take right now. But it\u2019s definitely a story I\u2019ll be watching closely.<\/p>\n
The post If at 40-years-old you put \u00a3500 a month into S&P 500 shares, here\u2019s what you could have by retirement appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.<\/p>\n
More reading<\/p>\n
Zaven Boyrazian has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Tesla. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.<\/a><\/p>\n Motley Fool UK 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Image source: Getty Images Investing in\u00a0S&P 500\u00a0index funds has made millions of people wealthy over the decades. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[72,176,61,60,174,175,77292,195777],"class_list":["post-455944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-tesla-shares","tag-tesla-stock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}