6 Tools to Easily Invest Your Money
(How to Make Good Investments Even If You Don’t Want to Think About It)
Are you in need some simple tools to easily invest your money?
Saving money is not always the easiest task in the world. You may set the right intentions, maybe even make a solid goal, and then bills start showing up, expenses start pouring in, and all of a sudden the money you were supposed to be investing for the long run ends up going towards getting take-out or concert tickets.
Saving money shouldn’t take an extreme effort on your part every month. If it does, there will be plenty of months where you just won’t do it. The goal should be to make saving easier. You shouldn’t have to be thinking hard about investing your money every month – it should just be happening for you based on the decisions you’ve made in advance.
Here are 6 tools to easily invest your money:
#1 Employer Contributions
Lots of employers offer some type of retirement program. It is your job to ask them about it and get it set up.
There are lots of standard plans you can enroll in depending on what your company offers. Maybe it’s a 401k, maybe it’s a pension plan, maybe you’ll be getting stock options or equity in the business the longer you work there.
The one “Ding Ding Ding,” flashing lights, no-brainer thing you need to look out for – the vital thing that you need to make sure you’re taking advantage of is any form of employee matching program with your company. This means that your company will match the money you put into a retirement account up to a certain amount. Sometimes this number is 1% of your salary, sometimes 2%, and sometimes higher. THIS IS FREE MONEY. But to get this free money, you need to put the percentage amount they will “match” into a retirement account.
You would be surprised how many people do not take advantage of employee matching programs. Your company is offering to put free money into your future, so don’t let that offer go to waste.
#2 Set Up Auto-Investments
You’ll thank yourself later. Set up investments to your Roth IRA or index funds to automatically pull from your paycheck or your bank account. The goal here is to take all the pressure off of yourself to remember to do it.
A friend of mine fully funds his Roth IRA at the start of each year. This is a great option for him because he has the $6,000 to spare. Not everyone has this kind of money lying around. Most people will want to use an approach called Dollar-Cost Averaging. This means they’ll spread the contribution out over the course of the year so they can put their money into the market at high points and low points. Historically, the earlier your money gets into the market, the more it grows for you in the long term. However, past stock market performance is not an indicator of future performance so the dollar-cost averaging technique is a good one to use.
The idea here is that you want the decision to invest off of your plate. You want it to just happen. Set a goal for the amount of money you want to put in each month. Set it and forget it.
You can always change that number if the goal is too lofty, but by setting up auto-investments, you won’t be tempted to just forget about investing here and there.
#3 Fundrise
Now we’re moving on to my favorite auto-investing accounts.
If you already are debt-free, have an emergency fund, and are contributing to a retirement account like a Roth IRA, you can put some of your extra money easily into something like Fundrise.
Fundrise is a way to get into real estate investing without getting your hands dirty.
It is actually labeled as the first company to successfully crowdfund investment into the real estate market. This means that it is gathering money from lots of different people, putting it into real estate deals they think will perform well, and giving you the returns.
It is extremely easy to set up an account and start auto-investing into Fundrise. I’d suggest you also choose to reinvest your dividends so your money grows faster over time.
#4 Worthy Bonds
This is another auto-investing account that has performed well over time.
Worthy Bonds pay a guaranteed 5% annual return on your investment.
When there is no guarantee that the stock market will perform well, things like this can add some stability to your portfolio. You can start an account for just $10 which takes the pressure off of having to be wealthy already to start investing. You can start right now.
Set up an auto-investment in Worthy Bonds, and it will be pulled from your bank account each month. Again, you want to make it as easy as possible to get your money growing.
The one downside to Worthy Bonds is they are not FDIC insured. This basically means that even though they “guarantee” a 5% return, if the business somehow failed or went bankrupt, you are not entitled to getting your money back. It is the same risk you take when buying a company’s stock – if that business fails, you lose your money.
Typically, bonds are more stable than stocks, which is why they usually offer a lower rate of return. 5% is a solid guaranteed rate of return for a bond.
#5 Acorns
If you want your money in the stock market without any hassle at all, use Acorns.
It is a mobile app, which immediately makes it easier to use. It allows you to pick the type of fund you want your money going towards (I’ve found that all the options are good so don’t worry too much about this) and then gives you two options to invest in that fund. You can either:
- Invest a certain amount each week or month as an auto-investment
- Round up each purchase you make with your credit card to the nearest dollar and “invest the difference.”
I’ve always been a fan of fully knowing what I’m putting into my investment accounts every month, but if the round-up method works better for you, go for it.
Acorns is very simple and will help put your investing on autopilot.
#6 Celsius
Definitely the riskiest option of the tools to easily invest your money that I have provided, but I’d be remised if I didn’t mention it. You know what they say: more risk, more reward.
Celsius is a cryptocurrency lending platform.
To invest in Celsius, you’ll have to put your US Dollars into the cryptocurrency USDC which is a “coin” that literally follows the price of the US Dollar (have I lost you?).
Here’s the upside, Celsius pays you simply for keeping your money in your account. They pay you weekly, and they update their interest rate weekly.
As of right now, Celsius is paying an interest rate of, get this, 10.51% just for keeping your money in their platform! 10.51% is extremely high. Again: more risk, more reward.
If you put $1,000 into Celsius currently, you’ll earn $105 per year – and you’ll get paid each week. It comes out to about $2 per week. The more you invest, the higher your payouts.
There is not an auto-invest option in Celsius. You’ll just have to park some money there and watch it grow.
How will you apply these 6 tools to easily invest your money?
So much of investing comes down to being patient. Are you willing to give your money time to grow? These options should make investing a little easier and allow you to continue investing even if it isn’t always on your mind.
Be sure to keep up with Kyle Willkom and Teaching You Money on the YouTube Channel.
Click here to check out the blog “When and How to Start Investing After College.”
