Last Updated on May 29, 2025 by KashKick Crew

Investing might feel out of reach if you don’t earn a lot of money — but it doesn’t have to be! Investing isn’t just for the rich.

Tools made for folks just like you let you invest small amounts of money so you can reap the benefits of the stock market that used to be reserved for the ultra-rich. Whether you’re dealing with a fixed income, unreliable paychecks or fluctuating pay, you can still invest and reap the benefits.

Why Invest When You Don’t Have a Lot of Money?

Investing small dollar amounts isn’t a get-rich-quick strategy. The people who make the most money in the stock market tend to be the ones who have the most to invest in the first place — that ol’ “it takes money to make money” adage. But, investing a little bit is a smart way to grow your savings faster and bolster your funds against inflation.

Inflation is the measure of how fast industries are raising prices over time. When your grandma talks about getting a gallon of milk for a nickel? The difference between that and the $4 you pay now is the inflation rate for that product.

When you put long-term savings into an account (or under your mattress) and accrue no interest, the value of that money actually goes down. The amount is the same, but how much you can buy with it becomes less and less each year. Investing helps counteract that.

If your savings can grow at a rate that’s higher than inflation, you’ll come out ahead in the future. Historically, investments are the best way to do that. While average inflation across common products is about 2% per year, average growth in the stock market is about 7% each year. (Both of those fluctuate some years, but historically, those averages hold over the long term. Remember, investing is a long game!)

How to Start Investing on a Low Income

Here are three tips to start investing when you’re not making a ton of money.

1. Start Small

If you’re on a fixed or low income and you need most of your money to pay for living expenses, you can’t throw a bunch of money into the stock market and hope it gets you rich. A) that’s not how investing works, and B) you need that money! Don’t stick it in an investment account where it’s hard to access without penalties.

Instead, start with very small amounts of money — we’re talking $1 or $5 at a time. Even with very tight resources, you probably won’t miss a couple of bucks tucked away each week.

You can’t go to a big investment firm to invest $1, though! Traditional advisors usually have hefty minimum investments of hundreds or thousands of dollars. Instead, use an app.

Check out these KashKick apps for micro-investing:

  • Albert helps you start investing with as little as $1. Its smart automation tools can help you build wealth over time—even on a tight budget. 
  • Acorns invests your spare change from everyday purchases into a professionally built portfolio of ETFs. Invest as little as $5 to get a $20 bonus (when you keep your account open at least 30 days).
  • Worthy lets you invest as little as $10 into bonds and earn a fixed 7.0% APY—with no fees or penalties. Your money stays accessible, and you start earning interest right away.

2. Invest with Caution

Investors with a ton of money can take big risks — they can afford to lose the money if an investment doesn’t pan out. You can’t. Don’t gamble with your money by investing in trendy industries or meme stocks.

Yes, it’s tempting. Just look away…

When you don’t have a ton of money to invest, you’re not going to strike it big with trendy stocks, anyway. (Double $5 is still only $10, you know?) Put your money into reliable funds, where they’re likely to grow steadily over time and boost your savings.

All investments come with some amount of risk — nothing protects your investment from losing value. But ETFs and mutual funds that track market indexes, like the S&P 500, spread your money across multiple industries and companies, so big shifts in one area don’t completely rock your savings. Focus on these funds — called index funds or index-based ETFs — instead of picking stocks from individual companies.

Most micro-investing apps let you invest in mutual funds and ETFs. And the more user-friendly apps make it easy to pick whole portfolios based on low, medium or high risk, so you can let the app make the picks for you!

3. Get Help Without High Fees

One of the biggest reasons investing used to be reserved for the rich was the high cost of an investment advisor. Advisory firms might charge high fees, capture a percentage of your investments and sell you on a bunch of investments just to nab a commission.

But we don’t need them anymore.

Investment apps, like the ones listed above, include “robo-advisers,” essentially algorithms or AI that help you make smart investment moves. If you want, they can even automatically make those moves for you, just like an investment firm would do. They don’t charge commissions, and their fees are a tiny fraction of what you’d pay human advisors (some apps are even free to use!).

Many apps even let you chat with AI advisors, so you talk through your unique savings goals and get advice for the best moves to make. (And you never have to remember to ask how their daughter’s soccer team is doing at finals this year.)

Start Investing Today

Even on a fixed or low income, investing can be part of your financial plan. It’s a way to help your savings grow over time, and you can get started with just a few dollars — or even your spare change.

Remember, it’s not about being rich or having a lot of money right now. It’s about making the most of what you have to make a better plan for your future.