A small amount of money invested on a regular basis, can pay off handsomely in the long run. With a budget of $100.00 a month for investing purposes, your choices are somewhat limited. But that’s not to say, that there isn’t any opportunities to make some money for yourself.
With the price of gold currently well above $1250.00 an ounce, investing in gold is probably out of the question. You could buy some 1/10 oz. or 1/20 oz. gold coins in this price range, but the markup premium is too high on these coins. That leaves us with plenty of money to spend on gold’s precious metal cousin… silver.
The current spot price of silver is around $20.00 an ounce, which would allow you to purchase approximately 5 oz. silver per month. Silver’s spot price fluctuates on a daily basis, so on a down month you would get more silver, on an up month less silver. By buying on a monthly schedule, you get to take advantage of dollar cost averaging, to save you even more money. Purchasing 1 oz. bars or rounds will save you money over the more expensive collector coins, like US Eagles or Canadian Maple Leafs.
If you like a little more security for your investment dollars consider bonds, or short term CD’s. A six month or one year CD is a very safe place for your money, and allows you to upgrade if interest rates rise. You don’t want to be locked in at today’s pitifully low rates for a long term, so stick with the quick maturing CD’s.
US savings bonds are another low risk investment. They sell for half face value at most banks, so you could purchase $200.00 worth of bonds each month for your account. Corporate or municipal bonds may also be available, check with your stock broker for these items.
Whether purchasing bonds or stocks, with a budget in place you’ll need a discount broker. A full commission brokerage’s fee, will be a large percentage of the $100.00 for each trade. By using a discount broker instead, you can find trading commissions as low as $4.95 online.
Penny Stocks are another way to invest your $100.00 per month. A penny stock is considered to be any stock that sells for less than $5.00 per share. There are literally hundreds of companies that fall into this category, for you to invest in now. There’s a story floating around of a man who bought $100.00 worth, of every stock that was less than $1.00 per share. The story ends with this man becoming a billionaire…HMMM