You can invest, even with a little bit of money. But investing seems like a huge feat especially if you not only never done it before, but you only have a little amount of money to work with.
Whether you have $100, $1000 or $10,000, you can definitely invest. Here are a few ways you can do this:
Save Your Change
No money to invest? Start with change! Seriously, gather up your extra change whether it be in physical form or via your online bank gather all of your change so you can have a little investment money.
At the end of the week, I log on to my online account and gather up any money amount under $5 and drop it into a special savings account. It might not seem like much, but if you collect $2.50 a week for the next year you’ll have $130. That $130 is enough to invest in a treasury securities bond (see the section on treasury securities below).
Enroll In Your Employers Retirement Plan
Your retirement is definitely an investment. In fact, it’s those investments that you’ll (hopefully) have enough money to live on once you retire. So starting your investment portfolio with your employer’s retirement plan can be a great way to get off on the right foot.
One great thing about your employer’s retirement plan is that they usually have a matching program — and if this is the case, you should definitely take advantage of it.
An employee retirement plan can be a great way for a starter investment because you can start small and grow as your salary goes. They are also typically taken off before you see your paycheck so it can be an easier way to part with your money.
Treasury Securities
You can invest with US treasury securities as a low-risk investment. While every investment comes with some kind of risk, government-backed investments tend to be lower risk — though low risk usually means low reward.
Treasury securities (or savings bonds) can start as low as $100 and have maturation periods of 30 days to 30 years. They can be a great investment choice for beginner investors, or those with low amounts of money to invest!
Use an App
Apps like SpaceshipInvest help you both learn about investing and invest with a small amount of money. It’s an easy-to-use app that is simple to learn and there is no minimum investment. That means even those of us with only a tiny amount to invest can still participate.
The great things about apps like these is that it’s easy to set up a regular investment strategy (you can set up weekly, per-fortnight or monthly) to make it a real financial habit. And it’s really easy to diversify your portfolio!
Apps can be a no-brainer investment activity for even the newbie investor, and you can be more comfortable with your investment because at the tap of a button you’ll be able to find out almost anything you need to know about any company you might investigate with.
Yes, You Can Invest!
Regardless of how much money you have to invest, you can definitely start investing.
If you’re headed down the investment path, make sure you do it meaningfully and set some goals. You can adjust the amount of money that you invest later when you have more to work with.
But simply starting is a great place to be!