You don’t build wealth just by earning an income and budgeting – that’s not enough. Investing helps you build the value of your assets over time. If you have big financial goals like retiring before 60, paying for your children’s college tuition, starting a business, or even buying a house, your surest way to reach those goals is by investing early.
Luckily, you have many options. Types of investments include:
Most Canadians invest their money, but an increasing number of Canadians (47%) prefer to keep savings in cash. This is especially true for the younger generation, as opposed to older generations. Reasons for not investing include lack of financial knowledge and literacy, as well as the misconception that you need to have a lot of money to invest. In fact, 42% of people who don’t invest believe they don’t have enough money to invest.
While larger investment amounts usually yield larger returns, that doesn’t mean you can’t benefit at all from small investments. Micro-investing is simply investing in small amounts. It’s an investment method that’s accessible to everyone, no matter what their economic background is. You can make investments as small as $5 through micro-investing.
Check out our beginner’s guide to investing.
A common way to start micro-investing is by rounding up your transactions to the nearest dollar and investing the difference. For example, if you purchase a sandwich for $9.25, round that up to $10 and invest that 75 cents. Do this with multiple purchases to put a more sizable amount for investment together (i.e. $5 instead of 75 cents).
The idea is to invest an amount that’s small enough not to impact your day-to-day budgeting. You won’t need to say no to certain outings or greatly alter your lifestyle.
You can do the math and put aside these micro-investment amounts yourself; or, you can download an app to help you do it.
There are a couple of micro-investing platforms that do the rounding and investment work for you. These apps usually charge a small fee and help you adjust your micro-investment amounts and goals with minimal work needed from you.
Launched in 2017 originally as Mylo, Moka is an app that automatically invests your spare change by rounding up your purchases. People who invest with Moka don’t need a large investment or financial knowledge to invest. Their constant development has given rise to new products to help reduce expenses, help pay your debts and offer cashback rewards.
Low fees: Moka only charges $3.99 per month. However, make sure you’re investing enough money to make that $3 count. For example, if you’re only investing $10 per month, you’re paying a 33% management fee to Moka, which is quite high.
Secure platform: Moka is safe and has comparable security with any mutual fund you invest in with a bank. However, note that the company itself isn’t CIPF-insured.
No minimum investment: You can invest as little or as big as you want with Moka. You can choose to simply invest your spare change or set up a reoccurring deposit.
Diverse investment options: You can choose to open various investments accounts, including tax-free savings accounts (TFSAs) and Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs).
Additional features:
WealthSimple is an investment platform catering to millennials and other younger generations. Their service has minimal fees and an intuitive platform that helps people invest, manage taxes, and even purchase cryptocurrency. Their Roundup feature rounds up your purchase to the next dollar and invests it for you.
Low fees: WealthSimple charges a small management fee of 0.4-0.5% per year, which makes it an especially ideal app choice for people investing truly small amounts.
Many investing options: WealthSimple Trade lets users invest in the stock market. They also offer socially responsible investing, and traditional investment accounts like RRSPs, TFSAs, RESPs, RRIFs, and Business accounts.
Secure: WealthSimple is insured by the CIPF. This means that your investments are insured if WealthSimple goes bankrupt. They also use bank-level encryption and two-factor authentication to verify accounts.
Extra features: WealthSimple offers financial advice, automatic rebalancing, dividend reinvestment, and access to other services like Wealthsimple Trade.
Micro-investing apps charge any or all of the following fees:
Micro-investing is best suited for people that can’t invest a lot of money from their current budget. It’s also great for younger people who benefit from the extra time in building up their investment over time. Finally, micro-investing is great for people with little financial knowledge that want to try their hand at investing without putting so much money at risk.
Micro-investing is a great way for people to start small with investing. Although small amounts don’t yield returns as large as bigger investments, they still add up! Consider using WealthSimple or Moka to get your feet wet with investing in a convenient, low-effort way.
Rating of 5/5 based on 1 vote.
Chrissy is a Toronto-based communications advisor. With an English degree from the University of Toronto and editing courses under her belt from Ryerson University, she has continued her lifelong passion for writing and editing. In addition to working for Loans Canada on a variety of financial topics, Chrissy has a few years of resume writing and editing under her belt, and takes great pleasure in helping people find work that fits with their experience and passions. When she isn't working, you can find her practicing yoga, hanging out with her dog, reading up on financial and real estate news, or planning her next trip abroad.
Save time and money with Loans Canada. Research and compare lenders before you apply. Share your experiences with Canada's top lenders.
Loans Canada is pleased to announce it placed No. 131 on the 2022 Report on Business ranking of Canada’s Top Growing Companies.
Frank Mortgage is Canada’s one-stop shop for mortgages. Get up to $1,500 cash back on your mortgage.
Great unsecured credit card for customers currently in, or recently discharged from, a consumer proposal or bankruptcy
Earn an average 5%¹ cashback at thousands of partners and at least 0.5%² cashback guaranteed with Neo.
KOHO’s Credit Building Program helps you build a better credit history with easy to manage payments for just $10/month.
All consultations and conversations with Loans Canada and its partners are confidential and risk-free. Speak with a trusted specialist today and see how we can help you achieve your financial goals faster. Loans Canada and its partners will never ask you for an upfront fee, deposit or insurance payments on a loan. Loans Canada is not a mortgage broker and does not arrange mortgage loans or any other type of financial service.
When you apply for a Loans Canada service, our website simply refers your request to qualified third party providers who can assist you with your search. Loans Canada may receive compensation from the offers shown on its website.
Only provide your information to trusted sources and be aware of online phishing scams and the risks associated with them, including identity theft and financial loss. Nothing on this website constitutes professional and/or financial advice.
