20 Simple Investments You Can Start with $100

You don't need a lump sum of money to invest.

Cyra Sanchez
February 4, 2025
6 min read

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You don’t need to be a millionaire to start investing; your $100 can change your fortune. Index funds, fractional shares, and high-yield savings accounts are other low-cost, practical entry points. Involvement in making contributions and reinvesting consistently develops long-term growth.

1. Dividend-Paying Stocks

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Picture owning a piece of a business and being remunerated for it continuously. That’s the allure of dividend-paying stocks. You can make a regular income stream by buying company shares that pay dividends. It’s a simple way to take advantage of possible stock appreciation and frequent payouts.

2. Peer-to-Peer Lending

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Ever wanted to be the bank? Use peer-to-peer lending platforms that match your money with people or small businesses that need them. In exchange for lending your funds to a borrower, you receive interest payments, usually at a rate higher than you’d find in a traditional savings account, which allows your $100 to go further.

3. High-Yield Savings Accounts

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Why should your money sit around earning nothing if it can work and earn more? High-yield savings accounts have higher interest rates than usual. Your $100 is safely deposited with an extremely low risk of matters going wrong, and it also has a chance to grow further.

4. Robo-Advisor Accounts

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Not interested in managing your investments? Robo-advisors are there for you. Best known as robo-advisors, these automated platforms will create and manage a diversified portfolio for you depending on your risk tolerance and goals, making investing easy and convenient.

5. Fractional Shares of Stocks

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Always feel the stock price of Amazon or Google is unattainable? Think again. Fractional shares are the ability to buy a part of a stock rather than a whole stock of an expensive company. This means you can invest in something like Amazon stock for $100, even if it costs thousands, without sacrificing diversification.

6. Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs)

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Why settle for one stock when you can have a basket? You can buy ETFs to invest in various assets in one transaction. With $100, you can bet on different sectors or markets, diversifying your risk and potential gains.

7. Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs)

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Start today to plan for the future. By opening up an IRA, you can invest your $100 in a tax-advantaged manner while also setting yourself up for a comfortable retirement. It’s a sound financial step for long-term security.

8. Employer-Sponsored 401k

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Don’t walk away from free money. If you contribute $100 to your employer’s 401k plan, it can be matched, which means you immediately double your investment. It’s a fantastic way to grow your retirement nest egg with very little effort.

9. Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS)

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Are you concerned about inflation eating away at your savings? TIPS are bonds backed by the government that increase in value with inflation, so your investment keeps its purchasing power. With a low minimum investment of $100, you can hedge your money against surging prices.

10. Micro-Investing Apps

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Do you have spare change? Micro-investing apps help you invest small amounts of money, often by rounding up your everyday purchases and investing the difference. These little amounts add up in the long term, making your daily habits a solid investment strategy.

11. Print-on-Demand Business

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Got a knack for design? Create a print-on-demand business where your designs are printed on t-shirts or mugs per the order received. For little money upfront, it’s a creative method of transforming your ideas into income.

12. Online Courses or E-books

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Publish your knowledge to the public. If you have a ton of knowledge to share, creating an online course or an e-book could be a great idea. Your first $100 is spent making high-quality content that makes you passive income, and platforms handle the sales and distribution.

13. Affiliate Marketing

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Why not recommend things you love and get paid for doing so? Affiliate programs allow you to earn commissions through product or service promotions. You can also start generating income by referring people to those brands, as long as you have a decent amount of investment to enable certain websites or marketing tools.

14. Handmade Crafts

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Start a business out of your hobby. If you’re an expert at making handmade items, sites like Etsy will enable you to sell your crafts worldwide. With a relatively small investment in materials, you can turn your passion into a profit-making venture.

15. Freelance Services

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Do you have a marketable skill? Freelance in writing, graphic design, programming, and so on. It’s a way to earn with little start-up costs, using your talents.

16. Dropshipping Business

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Looking to run an e-commerce shop without touching inventory? Dropshipping gives you the ability to sell items that are shipped directly from suppliers to the customers. You can start a low-risk, online-based business model for a small investment in reconfiguring your storefront.

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Are you a social media whiz? Many companies are looking for people to take care of their online presence. This allows you to use a small amount of money to market yourself and provide your services to assist brands in reaching a wider audience.

18. Virtual Assistant Services

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You are organized and multitasking so well; why not get paid for that? You can offer online administrative support for entrepreneurs and businesses, even as a virtual assistant. For the price of marketing & tools (which should cost around $100), you can acquire a flexible, high-market skill.

19. Domain Flipping

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Have you ever considered purchasing or selling digital real estate? Domain flipping is buying a domain name at a low price because it is lowball and selling it at a profit. For $100 or so, with a little bit of research, you could snap one up. Now, it is worth $7,000-8,000, and you can sell it for a profit.

20. YouTube Channel or Podcast