INVESTING · 4 min read

Investing CHF 200 a month: what it really gives over 10, 20 and 30 years

Published 21 July 2026 · Updated 21 July 2026

"I'll start investing once I have real capital." It is the most expensive sentence in Switzerland. Here is what CHF 200 a month — the price of a gym membership and two restaurant meals — really produces over time.

The projection in figures

Assumption: a monthly payment of CHF 200 into a diversified world ETF portfolio, average return of 5% a year net of fees. Illustrative example — markets do not rise in a straight line and the real return will vary.

Read the last line carefully: over 30 years, the gains exceed the payments. That is the effect of compound interest — the return itself produces returns, and the curve accelerates with the years. The decisive variable is not the amount: it is the start date.

The order of priority before investing

• 1. Emergency fund: 3 months of expenses in a savings account — before any investing. It is what keeps you from panic-selling.
• 2. Pillar 3a: the tax deduction is an immediate "return" the market will never offer you. A 3a invested in securities combines both effects.
• 3. Free investing: the surplus goes into ETFs through a low-fee broker, as an automatic monthly payment.

The 3 mistakes that ruin the plan

• Trying to time the market: waiting for the dip to get in costs more than the dips themselves. The automatic monthly payment settles the problem.
• Picking individual shares instead of an index: your plan then rests on one company, not on the world economy.
• Stopping payments when markets fall: that is the logic backwards — downturns are the regular investor's sales season.