1. I Need 1000 Dollars Today

Dec 6, 2018 - Now you're down to your last few dollars and the next paycheck doesn't. If you're in a bind for cash, or if you want to build up a savings fund.

You'd like to learn how to invest $1,000.

Is this possible?

After all, don't many financial advisors have investing minimums? What if you're new to investing? Where do you start?

Yes, there are places you can invest $1,000. And, some of them are pretty nifty, as well.

Lending Club is one such peer-to-peer lending service I tried out, and I found it to be very easy to use and reliable (see my Lending Club review).

As an investor with Lending Club, you can invest automatically using investment criteria. Alternatively, you can manually invest by browsing available loans and picking the ones you like. It's up to you!

Tip: Like any investment, make sure you choose notes that reflect your tolerance for risk. Some notes are riskier to invest in than others, and thankfully, you can see this information at Lending Club's website.

3. Have a popular robo-advisor manage your money.

If you're not very skilled at investing on your own and you're hesitant to loan money out to particular people online, you might consider hiring a robo-advisor.

Robo-advisors are investment companies who create automated software designed to manage portfolios based on certain criteria. For example, when signing up for such a service, you might take a questionnaire to determine your risk tolerance level or investment goals.

Robo-advisors make investment management available to the masses, since they typically have very low (or nonexistent) account minimums.

Additionally, many robo-advisors have slick user interfaces to help you get relevant information about your investment performance, holdings, and more in a snap.

I interviewed Jon Stein, CEO of Betterment, a popular robo-advisor which grew from nothing to a $16+ billion dollar investment company in just under eleven years. Jon believes the markets represent the success of the global economy. Overall, he expects they will improve over an extended period of time. This view is reflected in Betterment's software. It's set-it-and-almost-forget-it investing!

Tip: If you're ready to get a comprehensive, in-depth financial plan in place, you'd probably do better to sit down with a financial planner. If you have your strategy largely in place, try out a robo-advisor. It's worth a look!

4. Invest in your kids' college education.

Every parent wants their kids to be successful in life. One path to success is college.

But, there's a problem. Can you guess what it is? College is expensive and is showing no sign of slowing down. Forbes contributor, Mike Patton, points out that college tuition has been increasing by a whopping 5.2% for the last 20 years.

If you want your kids to go to college, and you aren't rolling in the dough right now, you should probably think about saving for their college education.

A 529 college savings plan is a great choice, as it has tax advantages that encourage individuals to save for college. These plans are sponsored by the states, so be sure to check out your state's 529 college savings plan and see if it makes sense for you.

$1,000 is a great start in one of these plans, and depositing the money in such a plan will help you get the technical details of the account worked out so you can continue to contribute.

For example, you might be held back by the fear of the unknown. Making a decision to start saving for college today will make it much easier psychologically to invest tomorrow.

Tip: If you're going to contribute to your children's college education, it's wise to start as early as possible. The time horizon for college is usually short: a maximum of 18 years. If you're starting when your children are older, you have even less time. I can't stress enough . . . start as soon as possible. You need all the time in the markets you can get.

5. Pay down your debt.

You might find this investment strategy surprising. But think about it for a moment . . . .

Having debt is like the opposite of having an investment. The only difference is that holding onto debt is often more costly than investments are profitable.

For example, you might expect to achieve a 7% or 8% return in the stock market. With credit cards, you might pay in the double digits. Yikes.

That's what makes paying down debt such a great investment idea. What you're really investing into is not having to pay lots and lots of interest.

This is also why some financial gurus recommend paying down non-mortgage debt before investing for retirement. It's that important.

I Need 1000 Dollars Today

And, $1,000 might make a big dent in your debt. But if it doesn't wipe it out, you should truly focus on paying off your debt as soon as possible.

Tip: Organize your debts. You may choose to organize them from lowest balance to highest balance, or from highest interest rate to lowest interest rate. The former makes sense from a behavioral standpoint and will give you some quick wins while the later will save you the most money. If you still have good credit then you can take out a 0% balance transfer credit card and reduce your interest for 12-18 months while you pay it down.

6. Start a Roth IRA

The Roth IRA, my friends, is one of my most favorite investment vehicles.

Why? Because the Roth IRA allows you to get a tax break on the money you withdraw from the plan during retirement instead of getting a tax break when you put the money in (that means you get some tax-free money).

That's a good thing for many, many people. The other reason is you have a lot of control over your money with a Roth IRA when compared to your employer-sponsored retirement account.

Those are two great reasons to start a Roth IRA. But let's not forget the main reason you should start one: it's important to save for retirement!

You won't be getting a paycheck from your employer in retirement. No income. None. That's obvious, but let it soak in for a moment. You're going to have to rely on other income sources (like your fantastic Roth IRA) in order to survive.

Tip: Check out some of the best places to open a Roth IRA and start one today! You'll be glad you did.

7. Diversify your money

One of the worst mistakes financial advisors see is when clients don't diversify their money. Don't be like those clients. Be awesome and diversify your money.

And yes, you should diversify your $1,000. With ETFs, it doesn't cost much to diversify your money and make sure you don't ride the single-stock roller coaster.

You might be thinking, 'But Jeff, it's only $1,000. Can't I buy some [insert favorite company here] shares?'

Well, you could, but you sure wouldn't be setting yourself up for making smart investment decisions in the future. Be smart with your money even if it's being smart with just a little bit of money. Practice now for the future.

Tip: As you build your portfolio over time, make sure to rebalance it as certain investments within the portfolio will rise and fall in value. Never be overweighted or underweighted in an area. Learn all you can about proper diversification and stick to those best practices.

Concluding Thoughts

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. You know what it means that you read this article? It means you care about doing the right thing with your money.

$1,000 might not be much to invest, but starting on the right foot now will lead to numerous rewards in the future. Just imagine how that one little act of investing $1,000 will grow into years and years of interest and sound financial choices. Torrent for pc download free.

And, don't forget the power of compound interest. Exponential growth of money is awesome, and you should take advantage of it as soon as possible.

While there are so many ways to invest your $1,000, just make sure you do so. Do some research before you invest, but don't drive yourself crazy considering all of the options. Make a reasonable, but timely choice. The last thing you'd want to do is neglect investing at all because of information overwhelm.

Invest today for a better tomorrow.

If you’re feeling strapped for cash, you’re in the majority. More than 60% of Americans said they couldn’t come up with at least $1,000 in the event of an emergency, according to a recent survey from the personal finance site Bankrate — not even enough to cover a hospital visit or a broken transmission.

For some, recent splurging hasn’t helped matters: Another new survey from LendEdu found that the average credit card balance swelled nearly $1,000 as a result of holiday spending last year. While a lot of those consumers said they had expected to be in the red for a little while in 2018, more than half of those surveyed said the new debt was stressing them out.

And you probably already work hard, which makes it tough to prioritize building an emergency fund or paying off debt — when you are also trying enjoy your life. Indeed, taking a nice vacation narrowly edged out paying off credit card debt in a recent survey about 2018 financial priorities from the personal finance site Credit Sesame. Before last summer, MagnifyMoney reported that more than one in five Americans planned to borrow money for a vacation, an “alarming” figure.

To be sure, everyone needs to take some time off to recharge — studies even show that vacations make us more productive and correlate with raises — but the stress-relieving benefits of that vacation are sure to be short-lived if a new pile of debt is waiting for you when you get home.

Need help? Here’s how to put together $1,000 quickly — and then actually keep it around so it’s not gone when you need it — in three simple steps.

1. Make or save money super quickly

First, get creative. Consider a flexible side-hustle like dog-walking — or an unusual moneymaker like selling your old gadgets, hair or poop (actually). Look into 10-minute cash-earning hacks, methods of earning passive income, and other surprising tricks to find money you didn’t know about.

But also be ready to do more than just add cash to your bottom line: Prepare to “subtract” less of it, too. That means auditing your budget (you have one, right?) for opportunities to trim spending without feeling the pain.

Start with the biggest expenses like housing — can you get a roommate? sign up for Airbnb? — and work your way down with a special eye for expenses you can cut easily or which shouldn’t be there in the first place.

Apps like Trim can help you find tricky recurring expenses that you’re not using; and even cable companies are sometimes willing to negotiate if you pick up the phone and make a case for lowering your bill.

You also might be able to save a few bucks by bundling your insurance with a single provider, or taking a hard look at your cell phone and wireless plan. And if you can, stop buying brand name products instead of generic alternatives: Mic estimates that this alone could save you $1,500 each year.

2. Create your emergency fund

Once you have a little cash in hand, resist the urge to spend it — and instead pull the trigger and open a savings account.

The typical rule of thumb is that an emergency fund should have about three to six months of expenses in it. That’s a pretty big range, to be sure, which is why it may be a good idea to use a cost of living calculator to get a more specific amount. By stashing your savings in a high-yield savings account, you can also count on that stash to grow the longer you leave it untouched.

One helpful move? Give your emergency fund a name, since people are better at saving for specific expenses than abstract, far-away goals like retirement. And know that you likely tend to prioritize what you can enjoy immediately, a phenomenon known as temporal discounting. So trick yourself into long-term thinking by setting up small but automated deposits.

3. If you have to borrow — have a plan

Of course, drumming up quick cash or trimming your budget is only going to get you so far during a serious emergency. The problem is — though there are a range of services willing to lend you money in the short term — many such products are predatory and can leave you in an even worse position.

Most people who can’t cover an emergency expense with their savings put it on a credit card, according to Bankrate’s data. That may be fine, unless your balance is already high. Credit cards also often carry higher interest rates than a personal loan you might qualify for from a non-profit credit union or other reputable lender.

One way to get around the problem of interest payments? Many credit cards come with long introductory periods where you’re not paying any interest on the debt you’ve accrued. By getting a good balance transfer card, you can move your debts into a single place, and keep the debt from snowballing as you take the time to pay it off.

Still, the main drawback to a balance transfer card is that you may end up earning more in interest if you don’t pay off the debt once the zero-interest period is up. What’s more, many come with fees that will likely eat into whatever you’re saving — which is why it’s all the more important to shop around, and pay off your debt as quickly as you can.

If your debts are confusing or spread out across different accounts — services like Tally or EarnUp can help you prioritize your payments.

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