Effective investing is like saving – the earlier you start, the better. With time on your side, investments have the chance to compound and grow. Putting your money to work in the financial markets gets the ball rolling on your bright financial future.
The good news is you don’t have to wait until you have a large sum of money to invest. You can make wise choices even if you have $30 or less to spend.
How To Find Stocks Under $30
Ever wanted to own a piece of a company? Ownership of a public company gets split up into shares of stock and then traded in the stock market. The stock price represents what each share is worth.
You can look up stock prices by checking any search engine or Google Finance. Each company has a ticker symbol that’s an abbreviation for the company, like WMT for Walmart or AMZN for Amazon.
Even if you have only $30, making investments can be relatively easy. For less than the cost of a few pizzas, you can even own stocks. Anyone can buy a share of stock, as long as you have a brokerage account.
Get a Fully Managed Investment Account
Buying a share of one company and having no other investments means that your investment money lives and dies with that company’s fortunes. If the company does well and other investors like buying the stock, it can drive the price of the stock up — which is good for your investment growth. However, if the company goes out of business, the stock price can tank and you’re out of luck (and money). Figuring out which stock to buy to avoid the losses and capture the gains, especially when you have limited funds, isn’t easy.
Typically, the best portfolio for the long run is a diversified portfolio of many stocks and bonds. You can pursue gains but shield against losses by spreading out your money over several types of investments. Professional investors like Warren Buffet recommend buying the broader market through products like ETFs. Diversifying means spreading out your risk among investments and keeps you from putting all your eggs in one basket.
MoneyLion partners with veteran investment advisor Wilshire Associates to create a fully managed investment platform. Strategies once offered only to the wealthiest clients are now available to everyday Americans. Fees are simple at $1 a month, and there’s no minimum investment amount.
Each investment portfolio is tailored to your profile and risk tolerance. All you have to do is answer a few questions, and we’ll recommend the right portfolio for you. You can also choose to change it and make it more or less aggressive The most aggressive (and therefore risky) strategy is an equity (stock) only portfolio. If you want to invest with $30 or less in stocks, you can choose the equity-only portfolio. But even a more conservative portfolio would allow you to invest in stocks — with the added cushion of some safer bond ETFs.
Our less aggressive portfolios combine both stock and bond ETFs to help you diversify. The ETFs in each portfolio are carefully chosen to match your needs.
MoneyLion manages your porfolio for you, including trading and rebalancing. We also offer Auto Invest, which lets you automatically invest your chosen amount at regular intervals. This helps you take advantage of dollar cost averaging.
Dollar cost averaging means that if you invest consistently and repeatedly over time, you’ll end up averaging out the investment prices you pay over the highs and the lows of the market. This is very valuable because no one can predict exactly when the market is going up or down. Instead of trying to time the market’s low and high points, which is nearly impossible, just invest a set amount weekly or monthly to build your portfolio consistently over time.
Regularly investing, for example, $30 a week, means that you will average into your investments without worrying about the exact price. Otherwise, you might miss out on investing in the market because you tried to pick the timing.
A hands-off approach with a managed account helps you reach your investment goals without taking unnecessary risks. Fully managed accounts are best for new investors. In fact, over 90% of MoneyLion customers are growing their money in the stock market for the very first time!
Search the Market
DIY investing requires researching and sifting through stocks on your own. There are thousands of stocks in public markets and widely available investment data. You can spend days trying to screen for stocks that fit your budget and investment criteria.
Once you’ve found your stock investment, you’d have to open up a brokerage account that lets you buy single stocks. Brokerage accounts often require a minimum investment of a few thousand dollars just to open the account. After that, you have to pay attention to fees for trading stocks.
When it’s all said and done, you might end up spending way more time and money than you’d originally planned.
Can I Invest $30 Today?
Yes, you can. Using the MoneyLion app, you get a full suite of financial tools the day you sign up. From banking to investing, MoneyLion offers powerful money management features without even walking into a branch. Here’s how to get started.
- Download the MoneyLion App: Download the app free on any app store (App Store, Google Play Store, etc). You can also sign up on the website to begin investing. Follow the prompts to fill out your email address and personal information. Have an account up and running within minutes.
- Define your investment strategy: MoneyLion suggests an investment portfolio based on your preferences. To gather information, the app asks a few questions about your income and how much risk you would like as an investor. You can get an idea of the investment strategies by viewing the core portfolios. MoneyLion will guide you through the process from start to finish, making it simple for beginners. You can accept our recommendation or then modify your portfolio anytime.
- Fund your account from a linked source: Fund your newly opened MoneyLion account from your RoarMoney account or another bank account. Connecting your funds makes withdrawals and deposits seamless.
- Activate Auto Invest: The Auto Invest feature takes the guesswork out of deciding when to invest. Making consistent deposits into your account helps to grow your money faster. You can turn $30 a week to over $1,500 a year without the hassle of transferring funds in and out of accounts every week.
- Track your finances: MoneyLion offers an all-in-one banking and investment solution. With a RoarMoney account, you can also see your spending patterns. Log in daily to find out how your finances are doing.
Helping Your Money Grow
Mark Twain said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”
Investing isn’t only for the ultra-rich, who have plenty of money to invest. It also doesn’t have to be intimidating and complex. It’s easy to take the first step when you don’t have to worry about account minimums and you’ve found a company that will do all the work for you for just $1/month.
Sign up today for an investment journey you can start, even with $30 or less!
