How Much Money Do You Need To Start Investing? (2024)

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Very few people take advantage of how easy it is to start investing!

Unfortunately, even fewer people ever invest.

In this article we will dive into 3 quick and easy steps to get a foot into the door of the investing world!

And, no, you don’t need to know anything about Wall Street, stock brokers, bonds, or mutual funds!

I’ve been using and recommending some awesome services that literally give you money to start learning how to invest.

Seriously! Free. Money.

We will also talk about some other really important aspects to prep for investing.

Additionally, once you’re ready, I’ve listed out a handful of other articles written for you within this same topic!

How to Quickly Boost Your Credit Score
8 Legit Passive Income Opportunities for Millennials
How to Pay off Your Debt with Blogging
10 Brand New Investing Books You Should Read Right Away!

Ready to learn? When you’re done, scroll down to the comment section and let me know your thoughts!

Step #1:Know Your Money

Net Worth

Do you have any of the following?:

Student loan debt
Credit card debt
Home mortgage
Investments through a RothIRA or 401k/403b
Money sitting in your bank

I’d be surprised if the answer wasn’t a yes!

Check out thisfull review of Personal Capital here!

Credit Scores

You see the ads on TV and have heard these words before.

You may vaguely know what it means, but do you really understand it?

We’re talking about credit scores!

Now, if you are a millennial or young adult, you may have never checked your credit score, and that’s okay!…for now.

But, as you get into investing, as you start getting real about your money, you need to have an idea of what the banks and lenders see you as.

I’ve put together a full article explaining credit scores here, but in quick summary, your credit score is made up by 3 “credit rating agencies”, and this score can range from 300 to 850.

(I’ve always used Credit Karma to check my credit score!)

Since it is free, their company is trusted and reputable, and checking my score through them makes no impact on your credit score!

It’s important to get familiar with this score because of this amazing financial journey you’re embarking on!

If you plan to get into real estate investing, if you plan on buying a home, if you’re using credit cards, if you have student loan debt, you need to know it’s impact on your credit score!

Step #2:Do Your Research!

If you’re a frequent flier over on this blog, you know I love to read!

This is such an important part for beginner investors, because it is NOT OKAY to start throwing money into investments without any knowledge of what you’re doing.

Let me repeat: It isn’t smart to invest without learning about it beforehand!

Therefore, I’ve been accumulating lists of my favorite books as I’ve been going through my financial journey, and I’ve listed out some of my favorite books, authors, and lists that you should consider checking out!

If you’re interested in rental properties for passive income, I’ve been loving this book by Bigger Pockets.

Additionally, if you really want a good idea of how stock investing works, Tony Robbin’s Unshakeable is an amazing read!

I always love adding tons of new books to my lists. Let me know your favorite financial books down in the comments!

Step #3:Start SMALL

So, by this point, you have an idea that investing isn’t something you can just jump right into and expect awesome success.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I can provide is to START SMALL.

You may have thousands saved in your banking account, but throwing it all into a stock or a mutual fund can be really, really risky.

Therefore, I love to promote my favorite two apps that helped me learn to invest, and have helped hundreds of my readers!

App #1: Robinhood

Robinhood is an app that gives you a free stock to start learning how to invest!

You don’t need to put any money into it, and the app itself is absolutely free!

Over time, I’ve used Robinhood to learn how stocks react to the news, how the rise and fall of stocks work, and watched my very own free stocks grow.

What’s so innovative about this service is that it never requires some middle-man like a stock broker or financial guru to help you.

They allow you to put money of your own in, to buy stocks, but if you’re interested in just learning to eventually invest, this is an awesome opportunity to take!

If you sign up through my link, a member of ThirtyEight Investing will also get a free stock as well as you! It’s a win-win!

App #2. Acorns

Another really popular way to learn how to invest is through an app called Acorns!

It essentially works by linking to your bank account, and allowing Acorns to put aside the rounded up “cents” portion of your purchases, to invest!

For example, if you buy some coffee for $4.89 this morning, Acorns will set aside $0.11 for you to invest in stocks. You will accumulate money, and when you’re ready, you can choose what to invest in!

Similar to Robinhood, you get $5 for free to invest when you create an account!

This will allow you to learn about investing, start investing with spare change, and be a part of an innovative platform that so many millennials and adults are using to save up for their future.

To check this out, follow the link below!

Let’s Summarize!

My hope with this quick article was to encourage you to do something today to learn about investing!

Whether it is to pick up a financial book at a library, or to download one of the apps and start investing for free, there is something you can do today to get one step closer to early retirement and a financially free life!

I’d love to hear your experience with how you started investing, down in the comments! Let’s help eachother through our financial journeys!

Let’s keep learning!

All advice and opinions provided in this post are reflections on experience and are for educational and entertainment purposes only. Affiliates were used in this article. Please see our disclaimer page details.

FAQs

How Much Money Do You Need To Start Investing? ›

Generally, experts recommend investing around 10-20% of your income. But the more realistic answer might be whatever amount you can afford. If you're wondering, “how much should I be investing this year?”, the answer is to invest whatever amount you can afford!

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How much money is enough to start investing? ›

There's no minimum income you must earn before you can invest. But it's important for your long-term financial security to set aside money for emergencies and to have debt under control. Once you've put those plans into action, you're ready to invest.

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Is $200 enough to start investing? ›

It means any amount of money -- even $200 -- can be the perfect amount to invest. If you have $200 ready to put to work, and you're absolutely certain this isn't cash you're going to need to pay bills or cover emergency expenses, the following three stocks stand out as no-brainer buys right now.

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Is $500 enough to start investing? ›

You'd be surprised just how far $500 can go when it's invested in the right way. Not only is it enough to start growing wealth in a meaningful way, but investing even a small amount can help you build positive investing habits that will help you to reach your future financial goals.

Get More Info Here ›

Is $2,000 enough to start investing? ›

The best way to invest $2,000 as a beginner is to invest in bonds, stocks, or yourself (through ways to increase your personal income or give yourself more time). These investments will provide a high probability of a return, if not the highest yields.

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Is $100 a week enough to invest? ›

$100 per week adds up to $15,600 in three years

That means that, after a full year of saving, $100 per week adds up to $5,200. There is no sensible stock that will get you to $1,500 per year with $5,200 invested — that's a 28% yield! — but there are stocks that could get you there after three years of saving.

Is $100 a month enough to invest? ›

The good news, though, is that you don't need to be a stock market expert or have thousands of dollars per month to invest. In fact, with just $100 per month, you could potentially build a portfolio worth $325,000 or more.

How much is $100 a month for 18 years? ›

This chart shows that a monthly contribution of $100 will compound more if you start saving earlier, giving the money more time to grow. If you save $100 a month for 18 years, your ending balance could be $35,400. If you save $100 a month for 9 years, your ending balance could be about $13,900.

How much is $100 a month for 40 years? ›

According to Ramsey's tweet, investing $100 per month for 40 years gives you an account value of $1,176,000. Ramsey's assumptions include a 12% annual rate of return, which some critics have labeled as optimistic given that the long-term average annual return of the S&P 500 index is closer to 10%.

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How much is $100 a month for 30 years? ›

Investing $100 per month, with an average return rate of 10%, will yield $200,000 after 30 years. Due to compound interest, your investment will yield $535,000 after 40 years. These numbers can grow exponentially with an extra $100. If you make a monthly investment of $200, your 30-year yield will be close to $400,000.

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Is saving $500 a month good? ›

The short answer to what happens if you invest $500 a month is that you'll almost certainly build wealth over time. In fact, if you keep investing that $500 every month for 40 years, you could become a millionaire. More than a millionaire, in fact. Investing is about buying assets you believe will increase in value.

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How much is $500 a month for 20 years? ›

Length of Investment

For example, an investor who holds their portfolio for 10 years will put $60,000 into it (10 years of investing x 12 months per year x $500 per month), while an investor who holds the same portfolio for 20 years will contribute $120,000 worth of capital.

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How can I double $500 dollars? ›

The classic approach of doubling your money by investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds is probably the one that applies to most investors. Investing to double your money can be done safely over several years, but for those who are impatient, there's more of a risk of losing most or all of their money.

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What if I invested $1,000 a month? ›

Here's what a $1,000 monthly investment could do for you

If you earn this 10% average annual return over a full two decades while putting in $1,000 per month during that entire time, you could end up with a nest egg of $687,306.72.

Is $2000 a month good? ›

Living on $2,000 per month is doable, but you won't be able to live just anywhere. This is important because at the time of writing the average Social Security benefit paid is $1,701 per month.

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Is $1,000 too little to invest? ›

While $1,000 may not seem like much, it's enough cash to start growing your money and securing your financial future, especially if investing becomes a habit. Don't let small amounts prevent you from earning larger ones down the road.

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How much money do I need to invest to make $1000 a month? ›

The truth is that most investors won't have the money to generate $1,000 per month in dividends; not at first, anyway. Even if you find a market-beating series of investments that average 3% annual yield, you would still need $400,000 in up-front capital to hit your targets.

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Is $5,000 enough to start investing? ›

With $5,000 at your disposal, you can navigate a middle path between broad index fund investing and the more targeted approach of stock picking through sector ETFs.

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Is $20,000 enough to start investing? ›

A sum of $20K is more than enough to get started with most online brokers. Depending on the broker, you'll have access to stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), cryptocurrencies, commodities, futures, and more.