Is $1,000 Enough To Make Meaningful Investments?
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Can't afford to spend $40 billion on Twitter? If you're Elon Musk, there's just no option. But believing that you need to be part of the upper crust in order to have investments that earn you money is just not true. Pretty much any amount of money that you won't need to keep a roof on your head and a meal in your belly has promise. In the interest of making this notion more understandable, however, let's consider an arbitrary $1,000.00.
These are five ways to make that money work for you. All are easy and uncomplicated and require minimal to no risk. Here they are.
Pay off your debt
You might be thinking, "That's not an investment that pays!" You'd be mistaken. If you owe debts you're having to pay interest on, usually very high amounts with credit card debt. The more debt you carry, the larger your monthly payments.
Pay off the most costly debts first, and you'll discover that you'll retain more of your money each month, enabling you to make other investments like those outlined below.
Rather than paying interest, collect interest on others' debt
No, you don't need to be a bank to do this. It's known as peer-to-peer lending. One vehicle to utilize your $1,000.00 for making interest is an internet company called Lending Club. You may invest automatically utilizing the investment parameters you've established or invest manually by navigating available opportunities and selecting any that appeal to you.
But as with any investment, ensure you select notes that are consistent with your risk tolerance.
Spread your money
How do you spread out $1,000.00? It would appear to be difficult to do unless you invest in Exchange Traded Funds (EFTs). ETFs make it not very expensive at all to spread out your money and protect yourself from a "single stock blunder." But what is an EFT?
An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a pooled investment vehicle that functions similarly to a mutual fund. ETFs will often track a specific index, sector, commodity, or asset, but unlike mutual funds, ETFs can be sold or bought on a stock exchange just like an ordinary stock can.
These are basic investments and a simple method of diversification, but like all investments do your research.
Invest in art
Sounds pricey! But I just heard about a company named Masterworks that lets anyone invest in multimillion-dollar masterpieces. You simply sign up for a free account and invest what you can.
Why art? Art prices have generally beaten the S&P by 164% over 1995 – 2020. Yet, such an investment must be long-term. But if the art you have invested in is sold, your percentage of the profit could be huge.
Avoid overpaying when you shop online
Think about receiving a notice while you are shopping online at Amazon or Target and are about to overpay. Just install it in your browser, and before you pay, it will search other stores, such as Walmart, eBay, and more to determine if your product can be had cheaper elsewhere. And you can get coupon codes, establish price-drop alerts and even view the price history of the item.