How to Start Investing With $100

Waiting until you have a meaningful amount of money to start investing is one of the most common and most costly financial mistakes. With one hundred dollars and a free brokerage account, you can buy a fractional share of a total stock market ETF and officially be an investor today. The dollar amount matters less than the habit you build.

Open a Roth IRA at any of the major brokerages, set up an automatic weekly or monthly transfer of whatever you can sustain, and buy a single broadly diversified index fund every time the cash lands. Ignore the daily price. Ignore CNBC.

Increase the automatic contribution every time you get a raise or pay off a debt. Compounding rewards consistency over decades far more than it rewards a perfectly timed lump sum at the right moment. The investor who starts with one hundred dollars at twenty-two and never stops will almost always end up wealthier than the investor who waits to start big at thirty-five. Start now and let time do the work.