It takes Money to make money, and if you have $200,000 to invest, the dream of being a millionaire is within your reach. While you haven't yet achieved the vaunted status of an accredited investor, the right move could take you from comfortable to rich. But how?

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GOBankingRates spoke to money experts from various backgrounds who suggested everything from funding fintech startups to investing in SPACs. While activities like those can certainly get you there, they require specialized knowledge and usually connections. Instead, consider investing in real estate and stocks, which remain the two most plausible and familiar routes to turn a small fortune into a big one.

No matter what your choice is, success or failure is up to you.

“People need to remember to apply discipline, diversification and patience in seeking great returns on their investments,” said certified financial planner Doug Dahmer, CEO and founder of Retirement Navigator. “That means choosing the smartest investments for you, and not just what's hot at the time. Ninety-nine percent of people who try to take a shortcut will not see their investments turn into $1 million and will probably lose their $200,000 as well.”

Slow and steady in the stock market

The Stock Market is not the fastest path to two commas, but it is the easiest and most accessible.

“Turning $200,000 into $1 million is not that challenging,” said Josh Dudick, a portfolio manager, Wall Street strategist and CEO of Top Dollar. “It requires time and a reasonable rate of return. The higher the rate of return, the less time it will take to reach the $1 million milestone.”

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Not much to do, if you can wait until 2040

The Rule of 72 is a simple formula for how investors can double their money in 7.2 years with a 10% return: 72/10 = 7.2.

Following the same math, the 12% make double their money in six years. If your investments earn 8%, you will have double that in nine years.

Assuming an approximate historical stock market return of 10%, $200,000 becomes $400,000 in 7.2 years, then $800,000 in 14.4 years, and finally $1.6 million in 21.6 years.

While it doesn't happen overnight, this “set and forget” strategy allows you to hit $1 million by putting the $200,000 into the leading market index, wait, and that's it.

“Over the long term, the S&P 500 has produced an average return of just over 10%,” said Paul Walker, author of “A Money Book Everyone Can Read.” “Buy an index fund and wait 194 months, or about 17 years. If you want to lose a million dollars, try to beat the stock market by buying individual investments.”

Your Real Estate Millionaire Dreams May Finally Come True

Easily accessible alternatives like REITs and crowdfunding are open to everyone, but $200,000 is enough to build generational wealth through the purchase of real estate.

For long-time real estate investor Brian Davis, founder of SparkRental, the key is to look for “infinite returns,” which are earned by dividing any return into a $0 investment.

“The idea is simple,” Davis said. “After investing in a Property and forcing equity through renovations, you then refinance to recoup your initial investment. That leaves you with $0 of your own cash invested in the property, but you still own it. You keep accumulating cash flow into it, and it keeps appreciating in value. In the meantime, you can turn around and keep reinvesting the same money over and over again, every time you add another asset to your portfolio.”

It outlines two paths to infinite returns.

BRRRR: Tremble towards a portfolio of income-producing properties

Davis suggests the tried-and-true BRRRR strategy: Buy, Renovate, Rent, Refinance, Repeat. The idea is to buy a well-examined home for repair with an all-in-one purchase renovation loan and part of your $200,000 as a down payment.

Then, you force appreciation and build equity by using the loan to rehab the property. After renting the newly improved property, you refinance the loan into a long-term mortgage—your tenants make the payments for you. You then withdraw your down payment to complete the final step, which is to repeat the process until you are a real estate millionaire.

Not a born owner? Chase infinite returns by joining a syndicate

Owning and renting physical property is not for everyone. In those cases, Davis recommends seeking his million by becoming a limited partner in a real estate syndicate, where buy-ins typically start at $50,000.

“You become a fractional owner of a commercial property, usually an apartment complex,” Davis said. “The union buys an apartment community that needs updating and renovates it to force equity. Once the renovations are complete and rents stabilize, they refinance it and return some or all of the investors' equity back to them. You get most or all of your money to keep reinvesting, while keeping your property and continuing to raise cash flow. Eventually, when the property sells, you get a sizable paycheck for your interest in the property, which you can reinvest again to continue to capitalize.”

Davis says most real estate syndicates aim to double investors' money within two to five years, much faster than an ETF.

“It is entirely possible to go from $200,000 to $1 million in less than 10 years with real estate syndicates,” he said.

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