So you've wanted to invest in the electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN), but you haven't gotten around to it. In fact, you've wanted to invest in it for about three years. If you had invested in Rivian three years ago, how would you have done?

Here's the answer to that question.

Three years ago, in mid-December 2021, shares of Rivian were trading for around $115 apiece. Let's say that you invested in Rivian then, with $1,000. That would have gotten you close to nine shares. (Did you know that with lots of good brokerages, you can buy not only single shares, but fractions of shares of stocks?)

Fast-forward to today, and how much will your investment have grown? Well, as of this writing, shares of Rivian have plunged some 87% over the past three years. That would turn your $1,000 investment into... about $125. Ouch.

More:Is Rivian stock a millionaire maker? Investors weigh in.

What's going on with Rivian? The maker of electric pickup trucks has faced some challenges. One issue might be that it currently offers only two models, each priced around $100,000. That's steep for most folks. Rivian is also not yet profitable, which isn't ideal for investors.

Since a simple investment in a low-fee S&P 500 index fund is best for many, if not most, people, how would you have done plunking that $1,000 in the S&P 500 instead of investing in Rivian? Well, you'd be up about 33%, turning your $1,000 into $1,326. That's an average annual gain of almost 10%.

Data source: Calculations by author.

Clearly, you can grow your money rather powerfully without speculating on risky stocks. If you do want to invest in stocks such as Rivian, be sure to not put too many eggs in each of those baskets.

Selena Maranjian has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The Motley Fool is a USA TODAY content partner offering financial news, analysis and commentary designed to help people take control of their financial lives. Its content is produced independently of USA TODAY.

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