So you want to invest however you don't have any idea where to begin. You need to save but want more value for your money. You want to try your hand at investing in cryptocurrencies without losing your shirt. Not ready to go all in?

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No worries you don’t have to. If you are not able to play with “Big Boy Bucks,” micro investing may work for you. So what is micro investing? In a nutshell, micro investing is the practice of purchasing partial shares or stocks by setting aside small amounts of cash such as loose change, and investing it into the business sector through ETF or fragmentary portions of stock. Over the long haul, even small quantities of cash can transform into huge piles of cash when carefully and wisely invested.

How micro investing works:

As a general rule, micro investing permits you to contribute your reserve funds when you don’t have a lot of reserve funds to contribute. For instance, you can make regular small deposits into these accounts. I have three such accounts, Acorns, Stash, and Robinhood, two get $10 weekly deposits, and the other Robinhood $5. The other way to fund these accounts is through something known as round-ups. Round-ups work like this, your bank account and debit cards are linked to one of these platforms and whenever you make a purchase, pay a bill or perform any other transaction the change amount is rounded up to the next dollar. So if you spend $22.47, $0.53 would be withdrawn from your account and deposited into the investing account at certain intervals. If the transaction amount is an even dollar amount the round-up total is $1. To learn more about Acorns, Stash and Robinhood simply click on the corresponding colored text or click the links below. With all three platforms you can get a debit card if you so desire. I just do account transfers to lessen the temptation of making frivolous purchases. All three platforms now offer an option that allows you to invest in cryptocurrencies. With Acorns and Stash, crypto is used to diversify your portfolio. Robinhood allows for direct investment in some of the larger more established cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc.). If you are looking for a broader selection of digital currencies to invest in the three crypto-investing investing apps I use are COINBASE, GEMINI, and  FTX. (FTX is no longer linked since it collapsed. I did not stay in the market and sold most of my crypto when the prices began to tank. This is a perfect example of the next question, “why three?”) If you are asking “why three?” it’s so I’m not putting all my eggs into one basket. If I have all my money tied up in one exchange and it gets hacked there is the possibility that I can lose all my digital assets but since I have distributed my investments over two or more exchanges I won’t suffer a total loss. Crypto exchanges are not FDIC insured like banks so if a hacker gets $1000 from my bank account I’ll get that money back but if the same situation occurs on a crypto exchange I’m SOL! For some free tips on how to keep your crypto safe visit www.shieldedcrypto.com.  

Pros of micro-investing:

  • Diversification: The practice of spreading investments around so your exposure to any one asset is limited. This practice helps to reduce the volatility of your portfolio over time.  
  • Savings on autopilot: A great asset to those who find it difficult to save on their own. Once you set your accounts up you never have to manually do anything unless you are performing a new transaction or editing an existing one.
  • Low Minimum Investment: Micro investing permits you to get everything rolling with financial planning when you don’t have a lot of cash to contribute. With only a couple of dollars you can begin making investments in ETFs and fractional shares of stock, which is unheard of with conventional investments which usually requires “Big Boy Bucks.”
  • Modest quantities add up: Consistent contributions of even modest quantities of cash to a venture can accumulate over a long period of time, possibly transforming your additional change every week into a huge number of dollars over the years.
  • Automatic Investing: Micro investing assists with effective money management skills which makes it simpler for individuals to remain committed  with their plan through all sorts of challenges.

 Cons of micro-investing

  • Won’t Lead You To Retirement Objectives: While micro-investing can be an extraordinary method for getting a jump start in investing especially if you are young, it isn’t going to bring about the sort of reserve savings/investments that one would need in retirement. You will likely have to save more to accomplish that goal through retirement plans presented by your employer and or other savings/investment accounts. 
  • Having To Save More Than Spare Change: Most financial planners suggest saving somewhere in the range of 10 to 20 percent of your pay for retirement and a reserve savings of 2 to 3 months emergency fund, so on the off chance that you’re ready to save a couple of dollars every month, you may have to reconsider adjusting your plan.
  • Expenses: Micro-investing platforms like Acorns and Stash do charge month to month fees to clients that are relatively inexpensive. Expenses fluctuate across various plans, yet the arrangement presented by Stash charges clients $3 each month. Robinhood’s fee structure is a little more complicated while 
  •  and Stash are a bit more straightforward while offering different tier plans. 
  • This isn’t much, however in the event that you’re simply ready to contribute $5 or $10 every month to your account, a $3 monthly expense fee will take up a chunk of your return.

How I Use These Three Investing Platforms: MICROINVESTNOW

Just remember at the end of the day it’s your money, do with it what you choose. Creative thinking, thinking outside the box, brainstorming and so on, it’s what keeps us from being washed out with the tide, from being average, to get us where we want to be in life.  This is what I do with my three accounts. Acorns is my oldest account and I use it to reduce my debt. I deposit $10 a week into this account and have round-ups activated. My highest monthly total for deposits into that account is $160. There is a screenshot below to provide proof of how fast spare change can add up.

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I take $100 from the account each month and apply it to a bill along with regular payments. Once it’s paid off I move on to another one. I have the same deposit arrangement for Stash. $10 weekly deposits with round ups activated and I use this cash flow to help bankroll my digital marketing business. While the amounts are not huge I don’t have to budget for the expenses nor place purchases on a high interest  credit card. ( I will however be revisiting this concept as the options of cashback, points or crypto rewards now make some credit card offers much more appealing. The third account, Robinhood, I just don’t touch. Will it make me a millionaire? Definitely not. It’s one more place to save/invest so all my eggs are not going into one basket. So these three platforms are more than micro investing tools, more than a savings mechanism, it’s a multifaceted tool that can be used in many ways to achieve goals, dreams and whatever you can imagine. 

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