INTRO Best Ways to Invest
You don’t need millions of dollars in the bank to start investing!
Believe it or not, you could start investing in the stock market now with less than $500!
Regularly investing small chunks is one of the best ways of gradually building wealth, therefore there’s no excuse even if you think that you’re broke!
If you want to take investment seriously, useful financial sites provide useful advice on the world of investment, including the basics for beginners and reviews of some of the best online brokers and IRA accounts.
Table of Contents
Here are some smart ways to get started.
High-Interest Savings Account
If you’re not ready to start investing, opening a high-interest savings account is a low-risk way of earning interest on your money.
You won’t generate the same returns that you would if you were investing in the stock market, however, your savings account could serve as an emergency fund!
Micro Investing
You can start with as little as $5 with micro-investing, making it a great option for somebody who doesn’t have a lot of disposable income like college students.
There are plenty of micro-investment apps that you can choose to get started. They’re easy to use and they’re designed to cater to brand new investors.
Here are some of the best apps that you can look into;
Betterment
This is a great app for anybody who wants to have some control over their investment portfolio.
Betterment does the investment on your behalf, but it also gives you the option to work with a financial advisor and have more of a say when it comes to your investments.
There’s no minimum balance requirement to sign up for the basic plan, but, Betterment charges a 0.25% monthly fee on your deposits.
Acorns
This is an easy and low-cost best way to start investing.
There’s no minimum balance required, and Acorns only charges $1 per month.
When you sign up, Acorn connects your credit or debit to your account and every time you make a purchase up to the nearest dollar.
Once you’ve accumulated $5, Acorn starts investing the money for you.
Robinhood
There’s no minimum balance to open an account with Robinhood and they don’t charge trading fees.
The app is fairly intuitive to use, allowing you to trade mutual funds, full stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
Stash
Stash is great for all different types of investors and when you sign up, you’ll take a brief survey that determines your level of risk tolerance when it comes to investing.
After the survey, you can choose how much you want to invest and how often.
Additionally, Stash allows you to choose the companies that you want to invest in. For example, if you’re passionate about eco-friendly companies, you could include this in your profile.
Open a Roth IRA
This is a retirement savings plan that contributes your after-tax money to your account.
Therefore, when you eventually reach retirement age, you can withdraw your money tax-free.
However, it’s important that you only open a Roth IRA if you’re prepared to leave money in there because if you withdraw money more than six months before your sixtieth birthday, you’ll pay high-interest penalties.
Robo-Advisors
A Robo-advisor is a simple online investment platform that asks you a series of questions upon registration to tailor your investment portfolio depending on how conservative or risky you are.
Working with a Robo-advisor offers fewer services and capabilities that you’d receive if you were working with a financial advisor because you don’t receive personalized advice based on your goals.
However, the fees are low and you can start instantly.
Robo-advisors offer a number of investment options such as;
- Taxable accounts
- Solo 401(k)s
- Roth IRAs
- Traditional IRAs
CONCLUSION
Hopefully, you now feel reassured that investing doesn’t need to be expensive or confusing.
You can get started right away with the apps that are included in this post, or alternatively, you could concentrate on paying your credit card debt, saving an emergency fund or boosting your income.
Good luck!
By George Smart.
