A common misconception is that you need to have thousands of dollars already saved in your bank account before you invest. That’s not the case today.
Micro-investing is where you take small amounts of change and invest it simply through an app.
An example would be when you buy a coffee. If the coffee is $4.80 then you can round up to $5. The 0.20 cents would then be invested. Your total savings will depend on how often you buy coffee and the market gains you make.
So how can you get involved in micro-investing? Well, there are many micro-investing apps available in Australia so you can get started.
Raiz
Raiz is the number one micro-investing app giving people the opportunity to automatically save their spare change. When you make daily purchases, you can invest the change from daily purchases or set recurring daily, weekly or monthly investments. If you want to deposit a lump sum you can easily use the Raiz app to help you build your investment portfolio.
Similar to the regular sharemarket, Raiz operates on the philosophy that diversification is key to a successful investment. Five investment options are available: conservative, moderately conservative, moderate, moderately aggressive, aggressive and emerald.
Before you choose the investment strategy you can review the projected return on the portfolios, which are constructed using ETFs (Exchange Traded Fund). For example, if you invested $30 each month, you would have $5,967 in 11 years. That’s a net gain of $1,917 on your investment.
Raiz also pays dividends and distributions, so if 100 Raiz users deposit $9.50 each, Raiz will purchase a $950 ETF unit, giving the investors a 1% stake in it.
Raiz is not a brokerage or an investment fund. It simply acts as a platform for customers to invest into ETFs. The minimum investment is $5 to get started.
Raiz charges a monthly fee of $3.50 for the Emerald portfolio if your balance is under $15,000 and $4.50 for balances under $20,000. Sapphire portfolio holders will pay a fee of $3.50 regardless of their account balance.
CommSec Pocket
Commonwealth Bank has developed CommSec Pocket, a similar app intended to make investing attainable for the average person. Just like Raiz, you can start off small. Unlike Raiz though the minimum investment rate is $50 and you can build your portfolio over time. You can choose different industries, such as tech, sustainability leaders, or the top 200 Australian companies.
To get started, you can log in using your Commonwealth Bank internet banking details, which will automatically be linked when you create a CommSec Pocket account. Seven different investment options are available:
- Aussie Top 200 – $31.13 per unit
- Aussie dividends – $30.27 per unit
- Global 100 – $100.67 per unit
- Emerging markets – $71.43 per unit
- Health wise – $120.13 per unit
- Sustainability leaders – $12.72 per unit
- Tech savvy – $33.61 per unit
When you find a product you’re interested in, you can explore the details of the ETF. It will show you the companies that you’ll be exposed to and the industries they belong to. For example, if you choose the Aussie Top 200, you’ll see that the majority of the fund consists of financial services companies.
You’ll also see the returns over the last 12 months, the last 2 years and the last three years. If you’re happy with what you see, you will be taken to the next page where you can choose how much you want to invest. You can set a regular investment if you want to automate the process so you don’t have to think about it.
The fees for CommSec pocket are just $2 for any trade up to $1000.
Just like the sharemarket, if you want to sell your holdings at any time, you can do so and the funds will be returned to your bank account within two days.
If you don’t have a Commonwealth Bank account you’ll need to open one which takes about five minutes to do.
Spaceship Voyager
Spaceship Voyager is great for anyone who is new to investing or who doesn’t have a great deal of spare funds to invest. Any financial advisor will tell you that you should always diversify your investments to minimise the risk. Micro-investing gives you the opportunity to enter into a diverse portfolio with a small amount of money.
It’s very simple to use. You just download the app, create an account and you’re good to go. If you want to invest automatically, you can set weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments, and of course you can invest more when you want to.
Your first investment under $5,000 will not incur any fees, so you can get started without losing any of your profits. There are three investment options:
- Spaceship Universe Portfolio
- Spaceship Earth Portfolio
- Spaceship Earth Portfolio
When you view the funds, you will see the 12 month performance , the fees that you will incur, the cost of the product, the risk portfolio and if you wish you can view the Product Disclosure Statement as well so you’ll have all the information you need to get started.
If you’re happy and want to invest, simply create an account and choose the amount you want to invest. The minimum to invest is $5.00 and you will not be charged any brokerage, entry or exit fees, so if you’ve got $5 to spare you can get started today.
Shareshies
The sooner you start investing, the sooner you can secure your financial future. Whilst the other micro-investing companies require you to download an app to your mobile, Sharesies offers even more convenience. You can sign up online. You’ll need to have ID handy to complete the process.
With Sharpies you can buy into local and international companies listed on the ASX. Whilst you would need thousands of dollars to enter into the US sharemarket, you can enter the market with Sharesies. The minimum to invest into the US market is $10.
The only fees you’ll incur are transaction fees of 0.5% for investments up to $3,000 and 0.1% for amounts higher than $3,000. These fees are lower than CommSec, Nabtrade, Selfwealth and Superhero.
Before you invest, you’ll have the chance to review the 1 week, 1 month, 3 month, 6 month, 1 year and 5 year forecast of the fund you invest in so you’ll make an informed decision on what to invest in. Over 2000 companies and ETFs are listed on the ASX, so there is a great deal of choice available to you.
You can choose the amount that you want to invest and once the order is completed, it will appear in your portfolio so you can regularly track it.
Instead of losing money in a bank account, you can start building your wealth today with one of these micro-investing apps.