The idea of doubling your savings may not be as hard as it sounds. If you are willing to learn and take risks, you can achieve one hundred return on your investment in due time.

The only question is how soon do you want to achieve this?

The timetable that you set to achieve your goal will largely depend on your risk appetite. The sooner the period you want to double your investment, the higher the risks you need.

Following the rule of 72, if you want your investment to double in five years, you simply divide the number 72 by five years to derive your target annual returns of 14.4 percent.

This means that if your investment earns 14.4 percent consistently every year, your money will double in five years.

On the other hand, if you want it shorter, let’s say, three years, you can divide the same number 72 by three and you will get higher required return of 24 percent.

The challenge in investing is in identifying the right assets that can provide you the largest returns at your desired risks and timetable.

Here are the five ways you can invest to double your savings:

1| Invest in blue chip stocks. If you are the conservative type of investor, you can simply invest in blue chip stocks that are normally part of the Philippine Stock Exchange index. Blue chip stocks are typically companies with large market capitalization and have reliable earnings history.

Historical statistics have shown that the stock market has increased by an average of eight percent every year in the last five years.

During this period, several blue-chip stocks have considerably increased in value. Among them are Universal Robina at 18 percent; SM Prime at 19 percent; Jollibee at 31 percent, and Ayala Land at 14 percent.

Imagine if you have invested P10,000 worth of SM Prime shares in 2013, this investment would have now grown to P23,863, more than double your money in less than five years.

It is important that you research and identify the fundamentals of the stock before you invest. Not all blue-chips generate the same high return every year; some may be slower to double because of lower annual returns.

2| Invest in income stocks and bonds. If you are looking for an option to invest conservatively, you can invest in dividend-paying stocks or fixed income securities such as bonds.

These types of assets pay you regular income in the form of dividend or interest, which you can accumulate and reinvest at the same rate of return to double your money.

For example, if you invested in the bonds of SMC Global Power that pays 7.6 percent annually maturing in 2026, you will effectively receive an interest income after tax of 6.08 percent.

For you to double your money, simply divide 72 by this rate to get an estimate timetable of 12 years.

This means that you need to reinvest the interest income annually at 6.08 percent or higher and once the bond term has expired in seven years, you need to reinvest at a higher rate to double your money in less than 12 years.

Investing in preferred stocks can be an alternative to bonds. You may get as much as eight percent that will allow you to double your money at less than 12 years.

Some of the preferred stocks that you can look up at PSE are preferred shares of Leisure and Resort World (PSE: LRP), Phoenix Petroleum (PSE: PNX3A and PNX3B), Megawide (PSE: MWP) and San Miguel Corp (PSE: SMC2E and SMC2F).

3| Invest in high growth stocks. If you are willing to assume higher risks, you can invest in high growth stocks.

Growth stocks are companies whose earnings are expected to grow faster than the market. Growth companies do not pay so much dividends because they need the earnings to reinvest to expansion.

Because growth stocks do not have reliable earnings records, they can be risky, but if you invest in the right companies, the returns that you will derive from capital appreciation can easily double your investment.

One example of a growth stock is Wilcon Depot (PSE: WLCON). When the stock was listed two years ago, the share price was trading at P5.30 per share.

Because of the impressive earnings growth of the company from its expansion, the stock went as high as Php17.50 this year, giving total returns of 230 percent in 30 months.

If you have invested P10,000 in WLCON in 2017, your money would have grown to Php23,000 today, a return of about 115 percent per year.

Again, because of the high risks associated with growth stocks, investing in the wrong company can result to massive losses, too. It is important that proper research be conducted before investing.

4| Invest in real estate. There are several ways to double your money in real estate investing.

One is by simply investing for capital appreciation. For example, you can buy an idle lot whose value you expect to increase in the coming years. Depending on the demand for property in the area, the annual increase in value of land will eventually double your investment.

The other way is by investing in rental-paying properties.

You can invest in a condominium unit that pays annual rental yield of eight percent. At this rate, following the rule of 72, you can double your investment in nine years provided you invest the rental income at the same rate of return.

5| Invest in startup businesses. Perhaps the fastest way to double your money, but the riskiest investment you can make at the same time, is to startup your own business.

Historically, there is only a 10-percent chance that a startup will survive and succeed.

If you succeed in putting up your own business, you can more than double your money in less than a year depending on the nature of your business.

Your startup may not necessarily earn so much earnings in the first few years to recover your investment, but because of the promising service or product that you offer in the market, your startup may be valued more than double of what you have invested by potential venture capitalists.

In order to increase your chances of succeeding, it is important that you equip yourself with the right skills and mindset through education and training .

Henry Ong, RFP, is president of Business Sense Financial Advisors. For business advice, e-mail the author at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @henryong888.