How to Invest Your First $100

These days, $100 isn’t worth much. However, $100 can be the start of A LOT of money for you.

If you can begin to look at money with a positive mindset and believe in your potential, you can stretch those dollars far.

Below I share with you a few ideas on how to begin investing. Some of this may not be new information to you, but have you actually applied these things and stuck with it?

The key to success is PATIENCE. You can’t expect to get rich overnight, but if you start somewhere and continue to persevere and be consistent, I guarantee you you will start to see results.

Invest in Yourself

I put this one first for a reason because I think investing in yourself is one of the best things you can do. Investing $100 in yourself and your knowledge can lead to millions of dollars in the long run.

Now there are multiple ways to invest in yourself. You can eat good foods, you can join a gym and workout regularly (my gym membership is $25/month so $100=4 months), you can see a therapist, etc. However, for the purpose of this post I want to talk about what you can do to gain knowledge in order to see a large return from your investment.

So how can you invest in yourself?

1. Books

There are millions of personal development/business books to choose from. Books are written by some amazing people who have achieved some great things. There are entrepreneurs and millionaires writing about their experiences, knowledge, and advice, all available at your fingertips.

If you’re not reading regularly, you’re missing out and you need to start immediately.

You can definitely buy 6-10+ books with $100, these are the ones I recommend:

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero: This is my favorite book. It’s all about realizing your true potential, taking action, and learning to love yourself. I think this book is an important stepping stone into inspiring you to go after whatever it is you want. If you have any limiting beliefs, this is definitely for you.

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill: A classic. Think and Grow Rich is a book you should read a few times in your life. It’s pretty incredible that a man in the 1930s knew how powerful the human mind is. He shares practical steps to begin manifesting your dreams.

Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki: This book changed my future endeavors! It’s all about having assets rather than liabilities, and he explains why the rich get richer and why the middle class will always struggle. I love the way the story is told and it’s hard to put down. Rich Dad Poor Dad will definitely convince you to want to start investing your money wisely.

Unfu*k Yourself by Gary Bishop: Most of us often think negative thoughts about our success and life in general, this book is here to snap you out of that. He uses a great writing voice that is encouraging and impactful.

Other books worth reading:

The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley and William Danko
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason

2. Courses

There are a plethora of courses online these days, you’re sure to find one (or more) under $100 that suits you. With websites like Udemy, you could easily enroll in multiple courses that interest you. Learn about coding, marketing, photography, etc.

Or if you want to do a little bit more research, Google courses you may be interested in and find the best price.

Keep in mind that learning is one thing, but actually applying the knowledge gained is key.

And if you don’t even have $100 yet, YOUTUBE, GOOGLE, and PINTEREST are your best friends. Learn, learn, learn. Millions and millions of people create videos, articles, workbooks, and ebooks for FREE. There is really no excuse to become a master of something and start gaining knowledge to later profit from.

Invest in Stocks

A lot of people think you need thousands of dollars to start buying stocks, but that’s not true at all. You can buy several shares of stocks with $100. With $100 worth of shares, you can’t expect to profit thousands, but what if you continued to put in $100 each month?

Stocks typically work best if you invest long-term. The stock market will go up and down all the time. Some people invest in the right companies and can profit a ton within days or weeks, but that doesn’t usually happen…especially if you’re not buying many shares.

You can use traditional trading platforms such as TD Ameritrade, however there is a trading fee. Luckily, with apps like Robinhood you can start trading stocks for FREE while you learn how everything works. If you use my link to sign up you get a free stock!

If you don’t feel confident trading yourself, the app Acorns may be better for you. You can invest your $100, but also set it up to round up all of your purchases to the nearest $1. They do the investing for you and this app is a great way to save without even thinking about it. And if you use my link you get a free $5!

The important thing is to start somewhere and to grow your portfolio. However, remember that stocks are risky! If you are not willing to lose that $100, it may be best to invest it in another way.

Open a Roth IRA

If you don’t need immediate access to your money, consider investing in a Roth IRA. A Roth IRA is a retirement account that has several advantages depending on your situation. Your money is invested into mutual funds and in general you can expect a 7-8% compounding interest rate. It’s a great investment for young individuals with lower incomes.

What I love about the Roth IRA is you can contribute whenever you want to, it’s not required for you to add money every month/year. You can only contribute $5,500 a year, but if you start with $100, then contribute $5,500 every year until you’re 65, you’ll have over $1.1 million!!

Open a “high-yield” savings account or CD

Now if you’re not feeling risky at all, put your $100 in a “high-yield” savings account. I put high-yield in quotes because these savings accounts aren’t very high, but you could make a couple hundred to a few thousand extra every year depending on how much you save.

Chances are you have a savings account with a traditional bank (Bank of America, Wells Fargo, etc.). If so, you’re probably earning interest on your savings at a rate of about 0.06% or less. However, if you open a savings account with an online bank (Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Synchrony, Capital One, Ally, etc.), then you can expect to earn at and interest rate of 1.80-2.05%. Obviously the interest rate isn’t that high, but it’s a safe place to hold your cash and much better than a measly 0.06%.

Online banks have a higher interest rate because they don’t have branches, ATMs, or a high numbers of employees. Always do your research and be sure to find one that doesn’t charge fees, is FDIC insured, and doesn’t have a minimum balance requirement. I use Marcus by Goldman Sachs, which at the time of this article has an interest rate of 2.05%.

These online banks also have CD accounts you can open with an even higher interest rate, however, you usually don’t have immediate access to your money so keep that in mind.

Invest in a business

Obviously you can’t open a corner store with $100, but you could definitely buy a few things to start an online business.

For example,

Start a blog:

Hosting: ~$8 a month (I use GoDaddy)
Domain name: ~$15 a year (I use GoDaddy)
Theme: $0 – $50 (You can use free wordpress themes or buy from other sites)
Pinterest account: FREE
Canva account: FREE
Stock photos: FREE (Unsplash, Pexels)

Start a YouTube channel:

Camera: $0 (You probably have a smartphone right??)
Laptop: $0 (because you probably already have one with free editing software, if not upload raw footage!)
Lighting: $0 – $50 (not necessary, just film in natural lighting but here is a soft box for a great price)

Open an Etsy shop:

Etsy account: FREE
Backdrops for photos: $0 – $20 (use a wall/bed/table, otherwise do a simple diy)
Supplies: $10+ (obviously it depends, but you could make jewelry, paint on canvas, make candles, etc.)
Shipping materials: $5+ (the dollar store has great options)

Flip Items

With $100 you could probably make $500+. Go to your local Goodwill, garage sales, or flea markets and buy a few items to flip.

This may require a bit of research. While you are shopping, do a quick search on your phone to see what’s trending or what items are worth. For example, at GoodWill you could probably find some Adidas, Lululemon, Nike, etc. for a few bucks. However, you could post those on eBay or Poshmark for a lot more!

If you have more time to spare, you could even buy furniture to repaint/repair and profit even more!

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From most of these investments you will profit $100 back and more, therefore you can invest your earnings again to grow even more. Eventually you can profit $1000+, then $10,000+, and so on.

Everyone starts somewhere, and I hope that this post inspired you to do just that. It’s possible for you to become wealthy, you just have to believe, start, and commit.

What would you do with $100??