6 Ways to Invest Small Amounts of Money and Turn a Profit

Everyone is looking for that financial edge these days. More investors are seeing a dwindling savings portfolio and stacking bills that can require online payday loans to overcome in the short term. Short term loans like these are great stopgap solutions to temporary financial trouble.

However, these short term fixes don’t strike at the core issue facing consumers in the modern buyer’s world. In fact, although we spend hours upon hours shopping — spending a collective US $26.6 billion shopping online in 2016 — consumer confidence is actually declining, and 2019 is on track to record the lowest year in consumer spending in a decade.

This is due in large part to a scare in savings holdings that is making its way around the nation. With all of our outstanding debts, there are certain investments we can make to help ease our financial situations.

Round-up savings

There are a number of ways to begin to get ahead of this curve, however. Maybe the easiest is to use rounding up savings scheme.

There are a number of these plans available for American consumers, but Mylo has hit the Canadian market in recent years and is a great place to start for those who are unsure of the best practices in saving. This app automatically rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and deposits the difference into an ETF portfolio that nets you a healthy interest rate over time.

Stacking CD accounts

For the keener saver, opening up CD accounts that mature throughout the year might serve as the next step. By opening a new CD account every month, or even every other week, you will see a return come back at regular intervals during the next year that can either be reinvested or withdrawn.

While this strategy takes a dedicated schedule, the interest may come to serve as a quasi-paycheque during the next year, and at an interest rate that beats out your regular savings account.

The bond game

For those with a bit more capital to spare, buying into Canadian government bonds may provide a lucrative return. They typically require a $5,000 minimum investment in order to take advantage of them. These rates are locked in, however, and as long as you let your investment grow to maturity, they are completely risk-free savings vehicles.

Investing in traditional stocks

The stock market is a great place to begin building up saved assets. Here you can buy and sell pieces of companies, but the key is to invest in businesses that you believe in. And do your homework: there is nothing more unnerving than to buy a few stocks only to see them tumble in the following weeks.

Make sure you read up on your potential investments and then strike while the iron is hot. While it might not seem like it, the best time to buy is when prices are falling.

Striking it large in the forex market

The forex market is another great place to begin building a portfolio. With a stellar hedging strategy, you can place high confidence buy and sell orders without having to calculate stop-loss limits or worry too much about price fluctuation. Forex has the added benefit of nearly always being open as well, so no matter when you find the time, you’re able to chip away at your savings goals.

Flipping physical assets

Finally, collecting physical commodities can be a lucrative investment for those with time on their side. You might be thinking houses here, but anything of value can serve as a lucrative resale asset from gold coins to collector’s items — still have your Beanie Babies laying around somewhere? You can even skip the buying cycle here if you already own something of value that you are willing to part with for a profit.

There are numerous ways to begin building a savings portfolio, but the most important part is to start. Start small and begin building your way up to rock solid financial stability.