How to Invest With Just $5 in Spare Change

Rounding up purchases to the nearest dollar is all the rage right now. Those remaining pennies add up fast.

Acorns is embracing the trend and allows you to start investing with just $5.It’s all done with a few taps on your phone. Plus, you’ll get a $5 bonus when you sign up.

Once you download the free app, you’ll pick your portfolio based on your age, income level and your goals. Acorns handles the rest; you don’t have to pick and choose individual investments.

Then, if you choose to round-up your transactions to the nearest dollar, that spare change will stack up until it hits $5, which Acorns will invest for you.

Each month, you’ll pay $1 for the service. If you work your way over $5,000, you’ll be charged 0.25% of your balance per year.

How to Invest With $50 — and Get a $50 Match

Maybe you’ve got more than a few bucks leftover in your budget, and you can spare $50 to invest.

One option we like is Swell Investing, an SEC-registered investment adviser. Swell offers investors (beginners to advanced) the chance to support high-growth companies, starting with just $50.

The platform doesn’t have any trading fees, price tiers or expense ratios. It does charge a 0.75% annual fee — that’s about the cost of one coffee ($3.75) per year if you invest $500.

Plus, you can feel good knowing Swell lets you support companies committed to solving global challenges. It puts your money toward causes like clean water, zero waste, renewable energy and disease eradication, to name a few.

Plus, when you invest $50 in one of these companies, Swell will match you with a $50 bonus! Just use the code PENNY after making your initial investment.

Disclosure: We have a financial relationship with Swell Investing LLC and will be compensated if consumers apply for an account and/or fund an account with Swell through links in our content. However, the analysis and opinions expressed here are our own.

How to Invest With $500

If you’re at a point where you have a few hundred dollars you can invest, we’ve found a great way to try real-estate investing — without playing landlord. Oh, and you don’t have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars, either. You can get started with a minimum investment of just $500.

A company called Fundrise does all the heavy lifting for you.

Through the Fundrise Starter Portfolio, your money will be split into two portfolios that support private real estate around the United States.

This isn’t an obscure investment, though. You can see exactly which properties are included in your portfolios — like a set of townhomes in Snoqualmie, Washington, or an apartment building in Charlotte, North Carolina.

You can earn money through quarterly dividend payments and potential appreciation in the value of your shares, just like a stock. Cash flow typically comes from interest payments and property income (e.g. rent).

(But remember: Investments come with risk. While Fundrise has paid distributions every quarter since 2014, dividend and principal payments are never guaranteed.)

You’ll pay a 0.85% annual asset management fee and a 0.15% annual investment advisory fee. Full story at The Penny Hoarder