Have £100 spare and not sure what do with it? There are plenty of ways to start investing with small sums and still make it worth your time.
A quick word to the wise: this article assumes that you have paid off any long-term debts. If you have debts to repay then it will usually make more sense to use your money for that, particularly if they’re high interest – speak to a specialist if you’re not sure.
With that out the way, onto the fun part of making your money grow!
Find a high interest savings account
How about zero risk of losing your money? When keeping hold of your capital is the most important goal, a savings account is a decent option. Just make sure that you’re actually earning interest at a competitive rate. At the time of writing you could snag an impressive 5% from M&S bank by committing to save at least £25 a month.
Use a robo-investment platform
Digital-first investment is considered somewhat more accessible than traditional investment, and the low cost associated with robo-advice sites means that they have a much lower barrier to enter. One such option that you might have heard of is Nutmeg, an app-based investment platform that lets you invest into a stocks & shares ISA, general investment account or personal pension from as little as £100 (although most account types require £500 to get started). There are several reason to consider investing with Nutmeg or one of their competitors if you’re just starting out: low fees because your investment is handled automatically, in-app money management making it easy to keep track of your funds and handy online tools to help you see how your money will grow all make this far more intuitive than the traditional investment experience.
Invest in upskilling yourself
It may sound corny, but if you want to make more money long-term then investing in your own education or training may well be the smartest solution. The amount of extra money that you’ll earn by getting into a higher paid profession will far outstrip the interest of a savings account. Now, a few hundred pounds may not be enough to put you through Uni, but if you’re able to save up even a small sum then there are lots of online certifications and courses that could really help you boost your career.
Up your pension contributions
If you don’t want any hassle then consider simply upping the monthly contributions that you make into your pension, so that this crucial source of later life income can grow a little faster. This is a particularly good idea if you haven’t maxed out your matched contributions at work yet – although not everyone is lucky enough to have an employer who will match contributions over and above the minimum amount, plenty do, providing an easy source of what is essentially free money. If you find yourself with a little leftover each month and don’t have any crucial short-term savings goals to hit first, consider increasing the percentage that you pay.
