44% of Americans are missing out on the best wealth-building tool of all — are you? Here’s how to fix that

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Building wealth and eventually being able to support yourself without a job are important goals for every American.

While Social Security provides a limited amount of income to live on during retirement, it’s always a good idea to think about how to generate supplementary income by the time you’re ready to leave work, if not before.

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But many Americans — around 44% — are missing out on one of the greatest wealth-building tools of all time, according to new statistics from the Survey of Consumer Finances published (1) by the Federal Reserve.

That wealth-building tool is the stock market.

The report indicates that only 56% of Americans were participating in the stock market in 2025, down from 58% in 2022. This represents a major missed opportunity for the roughly 4 in 10 Americans who aren’t participating and puts them at risk of missing out on the chance to grow their wealth.

For example, the S&P 500, a financial index made up of around 500 large U.S. companies that’s commonly used as a benchmark for market performance, has historically produced average annual returns of around 10% (2) since it was launched in 1957.

By contrast, savings account rates (3) have historically remained under 1%, while even high-yield savings account rates (4) rarely top 5.00%. Bonds and CDs (5) have also underperformed equities as well.

It’s true that investing in the market comes with more risk than these other investments. However, there are ways to minimize that risk through diversification and a commitment to following sound investment principles, such as investing for the long term.

When you invest wisely, the payoff in terms of your ability to grow wealth can be unparalleled.

This potential can be shown by plugging a few numbers into an investment calculator (6). Imagine that you were able to invest just $300 per month over a 35-year career. If that money went into stocks and you earned an average annual return of 10%, you could turn those monthly investments into roughly $1 million.

If you put your money into “safer” assets that earned you around 3% on average over time, though, that same investment would give you $220,000. Still a good chunk of change, but it’s far from a million bucks.

Simply put, investing in equities is a powerful wealth-building tool because of compounding. With compounding, when your money earns 10% one year, the next year you’re still earning 10% returns — but you’re starting with a balance of 10% more. So, while a $100 investment would have earned you $10 in the first year, you’re now investing with $110 in the second year and earning $11, assuming the same 10% return.

With larger sums and over a long period of time, the effects of compounding are powerful enough that you can generate substantially more money without putting in an extra dime.

However, many Americans are still missing out. Why?

For those who aren’t investing because they think they don’t have extra money to do so, getting cash into the market can feel impossible. The good news is, even small investments can pay off over time, so it could actually be worth starting with whatever you can afford. And for those who feel they don’t know how to invest, there are solutions for that as well.

Whatever the obstacle, it might be time to overcome it so that you can try to benefit from the tremendous wealth-building power of the stock market, even if you feel like you don’t know where to start.

There are tools out there that can help make investing easier. Here are a few.

Make your investments automatic

Automating investments makes it effortless to get your money into the market. That way, you can leave it to the professionals.

Acorns makes it possible by automatically investing spare change from your everyday purchases.

Here’s how it works: All you have to do is sign up and link your accounts, and the app will start rounding up every purchase to the nearest dollar and investing the difference into a diversified portfolio managed by experts at leading firms like BlackRock and Vanguard.

That morning coffee for $3.25? It’s now a 75-cent investment in your future. For example, you can invest in ETFs through Acorns, gaining instant diversification and putting money to work for you so the power of compounding can start making you richer.

It takes only a few minutes to sign up with Acorns, then you can start building an investment portfolio that will put you among the millions of Americans benefiting from the wealth-building power the market provides.

If you sign up today, Acorns will even add a $20 bonus to help you begin your investment journey, so don’t wait.

Read More: Vanguard reveals what’s coming for U.S. stocks — and it could be bad news for this group of investors

Find the right brokerage firm

With the right brokerage firm, gaining equity exposure doesn’t have to be complicated. That’s because platforms like Robinhood are designed to make investing simpler and more approachable.

If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can buy and sell individual stocks, fractional shares and options (for qualified traders) — backed by 24/7 support. Stocks, ETFs and their options trades are commission-free.

With access to popular ETFs like the Vanguard S&P 500, you can build diversified exposure without needing to pick individual stocks. The platform also offers both a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA, so you can choose the tax strategy that fits your retirement plan.

With its recurring investment feature, you can set up automatic investments of your preferred fractional shares, stocks and ETFs on your own schedule.

Over time, this helps make investing a habit and steadily grows your portfolio.

Learn how to research investments

If you want to be a more informed investor and maximize your returns, Moby can help you become a more educated investor, offering expert research and recommendations backed by former hedge-fund analysts.

Moby’s proven track record speaks for itself. Across over 400 stock picks in four years, their recommendations have beaten the S&P 500 by almost 12% on average. That’s thanks to Moby’s team, which spends hundreds of hours sifting through financial news and data to provide you with stock and crypto reports delivered straight to you.

Plus, its reports are written for even beginners to understand, so you can become a smarter investor in just five minutes.

Get help from the professionals

Finally, if you’re not comfortable managing investments on your own, there’s help out there.

With Vanguard, you can connect with a personal advisor who can help assess how you’re doing so far and make sure you’ve got the right portfolio to meet your goals on time.

Vanguard’s hybrid advisory system combines advice from professional advisors and automated portfolio management to make sure your investments are working to achieve your financial goals.

All you have to do is fill out a brief questionnaire about your financial goals, and Vanguard’s advisors will help you set a tailored plan and stick to it.

If you’re ready to start making your money work for you, just explore these options today.

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Article Sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.

U.S. Federal Reserve (1); Fidelity Investments (2), (5); Federal Reserve Economic Data (3); Experian (4); Acorns (6)

This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.