It’s okay to start small. There is a common misconception that you need a lot of money to invest to be effective. Even Though you don’t have much, nowadays it is possible to start building a portfolio and grow your wealth with very little.
Therefore, try building some wealth using the cookie jar approach. Each week, put away some amount, maybe KES. 500 ($5) into your savings jar, bank account or investment account. This may not seem like much at first, but it can quickly increase to a significant amount if done consistently and invested right. As you get comfortable with saving, increase your savings amount over time and increase the amount you save.
Where Can I Start Investing With Little Money?
Before we get into it, let’s define little money or small amounts of money as something more than KES. 5,000 ($50), but not more than KES. 100,000 ($1,000). Based on this, here are nine (9) ways to invest with little and make a difference for your future, even if you think you don’t have enough money to invest:
1. Investment/ Lending Clubs
The easiest and most accessible way to invest your money and earn at a tax-free market rate or even better. Typically, the objective of investment and lending clubs to pull resources and assist members/borrow to grow financially. This can be done in two main ways:
A. Lending money to individuals or businesses, and can be done through small social organizations, online platforms or mobile apps.
B. Investment through informal cooperatives that can be used to pool and invest money in larger worthwhile projects.
Investment/Lending clubs are great for people who have no access to formal banking services and yet still want to invest in grow financially.
2. High Yield Savings Account
You really can’t invest without saving first. If you are new to this business of saving and you want to do it well, then start slow by saving loose change. If you manage to save even KES. 500 ($5) a week, then you can turn that to KES. 26,000 ($260) in a year. After about saving a good amount, deposit the money in a high yield savings account. Starting small will help practice and develop the habit of saving.
3. Certificates of Deposit
A Certificate of Deposit (CDs) is a safe and easy way to invest your money in the short term. They offer fixed rate returns and tend to have much lower returns than other types of investments but offer lower risk returns. They are typically offered by banks to customers willing to lock away their savings for a certain period.
Learn More: How to Save Smart With A Certificate of Deposit Ladder
4. Treasury Securities
With very little, you can get access to treasury securities i.e. bonds and bills. They offer low risk, good returns and are available with different maturity lengths and terms. They are a great place to put your money and earn some interest.
When it comes to treasury securities, it doesn’t really matter which one you add to your investment portfolio. What matters is that you start as soon as possible, no matter what you have. The earlier you start, the more time your investment will have to grow into a sizeable amount.
Learn More: How to Invest in Treasury Bills in Kenya
5.Unit Trusts & Mutual Funds
Invest in low-initial investment unit trusts and mutual funds. Then aim to consistently increase your investment over time.
Unit trusts are great when you are starting to accumulate some wealth as they will give you access to a portfolio of securities such as equities, bonds, cash, bank deposits and more. On the other hand, mutual funds are also excellent investment vehicles that also allow you to spread your money across stocks and bond markets. These days, there are several unit trusts and mutual funds that have a low initial investment.
Learn More: How to Make Money Investing in Unit Trusts
6. Real Estate Crowdfunding & REITs
You now don’t need much to invest in real estate. You can either crowdfund by investing directly into several real estate projects or invest in a REIT, where you are typically putting your money in a corporation that invests your money into real estate.
In the first option, you can simply team up with other real estate investors, pool your money and buy some real estate together (a Chama is a great place to start). This way, you become a part-owner of a property and any rental income or profits generated from the property would come back to you. While with REITs, you are passively investing and thus you don’t have to directly manage the asset to generate income or profit.
What’s great is that both of these options offer investors a great balance and diversification from traditional stock and bond markets. Also, it provides great value for both rental income as well as long-term asset appreciation of the underlying.
Learn More: How to Invest in REITs in Kenya
7. Stock Market
If you want a piece of the action i.e. high prices companies, but can’t afford the cost of share/lot, then consider fractional investing. Fractional investing means investors can buy a fraction of a share or a lot of shares (if shares are bought in lots i.e. lots of 100). If you want to own a piece of large corporations such as Apple stock for instance, rather than purchasing a full share price, you can consider investing the little you have to acquire a piece of the company. This way, you won’t be constrained by a whole share/lot price.
With this strategy, you can invest what you have and not be left out of investing in the stock market entirely.
8. Cryptocurrency
I feel that I must mention cryptocurrency. There are a lot of people who support cryptocurrencies and the number keeps growing every day. The number of cryptocurrency exchanges has also grown tremendously, and the market challenges have largely been mitigated, making it easier to trade and earn through cryptocurrency. A word of caution though – whether or not cryptos are worth investing in all depends on how much research you have done as an investor, and how well you know the market in general. If you do your homework really well, you stand to earn a lot from cryptocurrency.
Learn More: Things You Need to Know Before Investing in Bitcoin
9. Retirement Savings
Begin investing small amounts into your retirement savings in your social security fund, your employer-sponsored retirement plan or any other pension plan you may have. You can contribute as low as 1% of your income or any amount that you won’t miss, into these plans. Ensure that over time as you earn more, increase your savings for retirement.
Saving for retirement is the most important financial goal you can have because it will give you more freedom and control over your life down the road. You don’t want to work so hard all your life and completely loss all freedom and control in your later years.
Summary
There are very many ways to start investing with little money. Nowadays, financial products are more accessible with the onslaught of M-Pesa and other digital products. Take advantage of the online platforms and apps that make it easier for you to invest and start investing today. All you need to do is start, it gets easier with time and your future self will surely thank you for your efforts.
Happy Investing!
Image credits: Top by Oleg Magni from Pexels