Saving 1 billion in five years may sound ambitious, but it’s absolutely achievable with the right saving and investment strategy. With a combination of salary, additional income, and investment returns of around 6–15% per year, the amount you need to set aside monthly becomes more realistic and measurable.
The good news is that financial literacy in Indonesia is steadily improving. The 2024 OJK survey shows that the national financial literacy rate has risen to 65.43%. This means more people are beginning to understand how to manage money wisely and invest responsibly.
So, reaching 1 billion in five years is not impossibleas long as you have a clear strategy and stick to it consistently. The key isn’t how big your salary is, but how smartly you manage your money. Here are the steps to help you reach your 1 billion target.
1. Set Clear and Measurable Financial Goals
Before starting your journey toward saving 1 billion in five years, it’s crucial to set specific and measurable goals. The SMART method Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound helps you plan your saving and investment efforts more realistically and stay focused month after month.
However, having clear goals alone isn’t enough. To ensure your financial plan works effectively, you need sufficient financial literacy. Research shows that literacy contributes 75.76% to one’s ability to manage money. The higher your financial understanding, the easier it becomes to make informed decisions, save consistently, and apply the right investment strategies.
A big target like saving 1 billion in five years remains realistic when supported by an appropriate investment plan and consistent discipline. This timeframe allows compound interest to work optimally while giving you space for annual evaluation and adjustment to keep your financial plan relevant and effective.
2. Calculate Your Savings Plan to Reach 1 Billion in 5 Years
To reach 1 billion in five years, you must know how much you need to save or invest each month. The concept of future value using compound interest helps you estimate how much your investment can grow over time in a realistic and structured way.
In simple terms, the future value formula helps you calculate the monthly investment (PMT) needed to reach your target (FV), based on the monthly return rate (r) and total number of months (n). This guides you in maintaining saving discipline toward your 1 billion goal.
For example, with a 60-month timeline and a 10% annual return, you need to invest around 13.3 million per month. If the return drops to 6%, your monthly contribution increases to around 14.8 million. Meanwhile, at a 15% return, the required amount drops to around12 million. These variations highlight the importance of aligning your strategy with expected returns.
You also need to consider inflation. Over five years, inflation can reduce the value of money by 15–25%. Your investment strategy should therefore aim for a positive real return, ensuring that the purchasing power of your 1 billion remains intact.
This approach gives you a clear picture of the necessary monthly investment, the importance of financial discipline, and the need to adjust your strategy over time to ensure optimal progress toward your goal.
3. Boost Your Savings with a Side Hustle
Saving solely from your main salary is often not enough to reach 1 billion in five years. That’s why additional income through a side hustle can be a powerful strategy. It increases your monthly savings and accelerates your progress toward your financial goal.
Side hustles may include freelance work based on your skills such as graphic design, content writing, or consulting. They offer flexible hours and can be done alongside your main job, helping you save and invest more without disrupting your daily routine.
You can also start a small business, such as online selling, creating digital products, or monetizing hobbies. Ideally, any extra income from these activities should be directly allocated to savings or investments. Consistently channeling additional income strengthens your financial discipline and gives you a better chance of reaching 1 billion.
4. Choose the Right Investment Instruments
Selecting investment instruments for a five-year horizon requires careful consideration of returns, risks, and liquidity. With the right strategy, you can balance capital protection and growth. Diversification is key to keeping your portfolio stable, even when some assets fluctuate.
Gold is one option. Over the past year, gold has strengthened by up to 64%. It has relatively low volatility and high liquidity, making it a reliable safe haven amid market uncertainty. Rising gold prices provide portfolio stability and serve as a benchmark when comparing the potential returns of more aggressive assets.
Today, investing in gold is easier than ever thanks to digital gold platforms, which allow you to buy starting from small amounts, track prices in real time, and sell anytime without storing physical gold. This makes diversification more practical and suitable for your 1 billion savings plan.
Beyond gold, you can explore mutual funds. Fixed-income mutual funds offer returns of around 4–8% annually, while balanced funds provide 8–12%. Liquidity varies by type, but mutual funds generally offer stable medium-term growth with manageable risk.
To complement your portfolio, low-risk instruments such as bank deposits can provide stability. They offer around 3–6% annual returns. While liquidity depends on the deposit term, this option is ideal for emergency buffers, helping your overall portfolio remain secure and aligned with your investment horizon.
5. Maintain Financial Discipline and Manage Expenses Wisely
After choosing your investment instruments, financial discipline becomes crucial to achieving your 1 billion target. The 50-30-20 rule is a popular budgeting method, 50% for necessities, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings or investments.
Unfortunately, national surveys show that 60–70% of Indonesians struggle to save consistently. The main causes include unexpected expenses, lack of discipline, and lifestyle-driven spending. This emphasizes the importance of building financial awareness early on to stay focused on your five-year target.
Lifestyle inflation also poses challenges. For instance, when income increases from 3 million to 5 million, spending often increases too buying new items or eating out more frequently leaving savings unchanged. Recognizing this pattern helps you stay disciplined and keep your investment allocations intact.
Small efficiency practices matter. Cutting a daily 20,000 coffee habit saves 7.3 million a year. Over time, these savings become meaningful additions to your investment capital and strengthen your path toward 1 billion.
Saving and investing is like growing a tree it requires consistent care. Reviewing your portfolio annually while monitoring interest rates, inflation, or stock market shifts helps maintain healthy growth. Investors who regularly adjust their strategy are better positioned to seize opportunities and mitigate risks compared to passive investors.
When economic conditions change such as rising inflation or market volatility adjusting your strategy helps protect and grow your capital. Some investors shift a portion of their assets to gold for stability. This keeps the portfolio balanced, reduces risk, and maintains the potential to achieve your savings goal.
Diversifying with digital gold is especially useful because it offers both flexibility and security. Unlike other volatile assets, digital gold provides stable long-term growth and high liquidity, making it ideal for a five-year medium-term plan.
This strategy can be further optimized by investing in digital gold through Treasury. Over the past five years, gold prices on this platform have delivered returns of up to 139.21%, equivalent to IDR 1,285,408 outperforming many traditional investment instruments.
With global gold prices trending upward and digital gold offering ease of access, real-time monitoring, and secure storage, this instrument provides stability and strong return potential. With regular evaluation, you can maintain a healthy portfolio while maximizing returns, making your IDR 1 billion target even more achievable.
