5 Ways Investing $100 Will Grow Your Wealth

Grow your wealth with $100. Think $100 won’t make much of a difference in improving your financial situation? Think again.

It’s easy to blow through $100 on dinner and drinks without a second thought and not much to show for it. It might seem like just a small amount. However, investing $100 could trigger the beginning of good financial habits that will change your life.

Don’t believe the lie that you need to be rich to begin investing. The truth is, it’s not about how much money you get started with, it’s about starting.

Here are a few ways to get that $100 working harder. Growing your wealth more than a round of drinks ever will.

5 Tips to Grow Your Wealth with $100

Start a trust fund for your toddler

Have a 2 or 3-year-old? Your $100 could set them up for a gift any young adult would be thrilled to receive on his or her 21st birthday; thousands and thousands of dollars.

It will be a fair few years before your toddler has a clue about the magic of compound interest. But you do! Put that $100 in a compounding account now. Kick in an extra $50 a month and by the time they hit 21, more than $15k will have been accumulated. Thanks, Mum and Dad!

Lend it to someone else

I don’t mean walking up to a stranger on the street and asking if they want to borrow $100. I’m talking about joining a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) lending platform.

A P2P lender allows individuals to fund and borrow money directly from each other via an online marketplace, cutting out traditional banks and credit providers. You can get started lending from as little as $10 on some platforms and interest rates vary depending on the term of the loan. RatSetter is one of the more established P2P platforms in Australia.  

I’ve written more on the risks and benefits of P2P lending to grow your wealth in this post.

Grab yourself some good money books

$100 will buy you access to some of the best financial minds in the world. Spending money on tools and resources to increase your financial knowledge is one of the smartest long-term investments you can make to grow your wealth.

In the documentary Becoming Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor says he spends 5 – 6 hours reading and points out that his voracious reading habit has played a huge part in his success. Self-education is an investment that can literally make you millions of dollars in your lifetime.

“That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.” – Warren Buffett

Make an extra payment off your credit card

Invest in a step towards debt-free living. Instead of spending $100 on retail therapy and only making your minimum monthly repayment, slip that $100 towards your credit card balance.

If you’re paying 12% interest on a credit card with a balance of a few thousand bucks it doesn’t make much sense to begin investing until you’ve cleared the debt. The interest gained from your investments will be canceled out by the interest accrued on the card.

My views on this approach do change if you have multiple debts to get rid of. It comes down to needing to work on building both the debt elimination muscle and the investing muscle, but we’ll get to that in another post.

Open a robo-investing account

Robo-advice platforms are automated investing tools with a low barrier for entry meaning you can dip your toe in the investing world for $100 or less.

A robo-advisor (a computerized financial advisor) suggests a diversified investment portfolio with algorithms based on investment management strategies according to your risk level. Your portfolio is automatically managed and rebalanced to your preferred asset allocation as you continue to invest.

Raiz (formerly Acorns) blazed the robo-advice trail years ago and since then a multitude of robo-investing apps have popped up all over the place. You can get started with Raiz for as little as $5.

The one significant thing to be aware of with these micro- investing tools is the impact of the fees. While they are helpful for getting started, they aren’t the long-term solution.

Top up your super fund

Why not make a personal contribution to your superannuation? $100 might seem like a drop in the ocean of your retirement funds but even small amounts add up over time. The idea is you’re putting your money away somewhere it will work for you. Not just letting it slip through the cracks with nothing to show for it.

Check out the ATO website for more on making personal super contributions in Australia, or your local tax site for further information.

Someone smart once said the best way to invest $100 was repeatedly. As a one-time investment, $100 won’t change your life. Repeating it over and over and over (and over) again will grow your wealth.

Conclusion

I’m gonna keep saying it; starting is what matters. Whether it’s investing, saving, or paying off debt, the first step is the hardest.

Success with investing can be drilled down to just two core concepts, getting started, and consistent application. Sure there is the knowledge component, but you already know where to get that, and how it will transform your life. Hint: You’re already there 🙂

How would you invest a spare $100?

To claim your FREE Smart Investor call where you will uncover the challenges that have been holding you back, your starting point and your destination, and of course the path to success, just click here to lock in your time.