Small Investments, Big Pay Offs - The Best Investments You Can Make
Many people make the sad mistake thinking that they need to have a great deal of money in order to invest. That’s far from the truth. You do not need to have a lot of money to invest you just need to know where to invest it at. You can make small investments that will have big pay offs in the end.
There are many options for first time investors to get started with $1000 or even as little as $50. One of the easiest investments that you can get into is a 401(k) Plan. You do not need any money at all to start with and you can add a minimum of 1% of your pay to the plan with each paycheck. A great perk of these kinds of plans is that your employer will also put money in at the end of their fiscal year so that means you will get free money each year that is earning money for you.
This means if you earn a yearly income of $30,000 with bi weekly paychecks, you can have as little as $11.50 taken out for your retirement fund from each paycheck. This is taken out pretax so you will only see about $9 missing from your check. Most people recommend that you contribute at least 10% of your pay to your retirement in order to save enough to live a comfortable life style when you retire.
You can save for college with a 529 plan and you can start it up with as little as $25. You would then need to have at least a $15 automatic deduction from another account like a savings or checking that will go directly into the 529 plan. This is a great way to invest in your child’s future and there are great plans that you can get into such as Upromise where you save on things that you buy each day.
These plans are tax exempt when they are used for qualified education costs of the beneficiary on the account. With plans like Upromise, you can sign up with different credit cards from yourself as well as family and friends. Each time they take certain purchases with those credit cards, a percent of the purchase is places into an account for your child for college. You can then take those savings and use them in a 529 account.
Another great investment choice would be U.S. Savings Bonds. All you need to buy one is $25 dollars and you add to it in $25 increments. Generally you can buy Savings Bonds right through your payroll as an automatic deduction. The good thing about this is that the interest on the Savings Bonds are exempt from both state and local taxes and most often federal taxes as well.
Investing doesn’t have to take a great deal of money. Just do a bit of research before you invest your money so you can go with the best option for your goals.
Having a moderate income does not mean that you have to live like a pauper. If you want to live well, then the key is living within your means. That means not stretching the family budget to upgrade to a larger home that you can barely afford, or trading up for a new car every few years. A few small sacrifices here and there on your more big ticket items can mean a lot more money to spend (and save) in other places. 
Congratulations on making savings a priority! Now that you have some money in the bank, it is time to figure out what kind of account will yield you the best benefits. Do not leave your money sitting in checking where it does not accrue interest; this practice does nothing for you, and will not help you grow you money. In fact, leaving your money in a checking account may actually tempt you to spend more than you intend, so watch out for your funds!
