S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) shares have added a lot of wealth for many investors. I think they are a great idea for investors to jump on for opportunities when the chance is there.
The ASX 200 has returned an average of around 10% per annum over the ultra-long term. This sort of return can help people become a lot wealthier.
Using a compound interest calculator, investing $1,000 a month that makes 10% per annum becomes $687,000 after 20 years. Of course, there's no certainty about what the future holds for the ASX 200 share market – it could do better than 10% per annum, or it could do worse.
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Is this a great time to invest?
The ASX 200 as a whole is trading at close to its all-time high, so I wouldn't call it a once-in-a-decade opportunity as a whole.
Even so, I still think investors can see adequate returns from the iShares Core S&P/ASX 200 ETF (ASX: IOZ) or the Vanguard Australian Shares Index ETF (ASX: VAS) which tracks the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO).
If we look at the chart over the last couple of years, there were some very opportune times to invest in the ASX 200, in June 2022, October 2022 and late October 2023.
I wish I could go back to the date of this article and invest more in Lovisa Holdings Ltd (ASX: LOV), Pinnacle Investment Management Group Ltd (ASX: PNI) and Johns Lyng Group Ltd (ASX: JLG), which are up by 40%, 30% and 14.6% respectively since 13 November 2023. Meanwhile, non-ASX 200 share Temple & Webster Group Ltd (ASX: TPW) has risen 80%. But we shouldn't expect the same return to continue over the next few months.
I always think it's possible to find opportunities in the ASX share market. Sometimes there are loads of great opportunities, and other times there are fewer bargains. Interest rates are still high, so I'd say some stocks have gotten ahead of themselves.
Which ASX 200 shares I'd buy
I believe some ASX 200 shares have such strong long-term growth potential that they can easily justify their valuations. I recently wrote about Johns Lyng and Pinnacle in separate articles, as well as Metcash Ltd (ASX: MTS) and Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd (ASX: SOL) in this article.
I think there are even more opportunities the further we go down the market capitalisation list outside of the ASX 200.
While I don't think today is the best time to invest in the overall market, I think we can still find wonderful businesses that have lots of growth potential. I believe specific ASX shares can help us build wealth if we choose wisely and invest regularly.
