Looking for small Investment ideas for students? Then you are in the right place! I'll share investing options for students and millennials to start investing with little money.
We know that millennials are good savers, outperforming other generations by as much as 36%. However, many of us are reticent with parting with that cash – especially when it’s for investments, due to the problems the previous generation faced.
Many of us are already making future financial plans that typically involve pensions, house deposits, 401ks and the like.
However, you could be making a good bit of extra money from investing and it doesn’t cost that much to get into. Here are some quick and cheap ways to start building up investments and small investment ideas for students.
Small Investment Ideas for Students
Here are the best small investment opportunities for students those that have less than $500 to invest.
1. Invest in index funds
If you want to build wealth without constantly checking stock prices, invest in index funds.
These funds let you own a piece of hundreds (or even thousands) of stocks at once, giving you instant diversification and reducing your risk compared to betting on individual stocks. They’re a proven way to grow money over the long term.
Not sure where to start? Here are some solid options—even if you’re starting with less than $500:
Best S&P 500 Index Funds (Tracks the top 500 U.S. companies):
- FUSEX – Fidelity Spartan 500 Index Fund (Expense Ratio: 0.015%, Minimum Investment: $0)
- SWPPX – Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund (Expense Ratio: 0.02%, Minimum Investment: $0)
Best Total Stock Market Index Funds (Covers the entire U.S. stock market):
- SWTSX – Schwab Total Stock Market Index Fund (Expense Ratio: 0.03%, Minimum Investment: $0)
Best for Aggressive Growth (Higher risk, higher reward)
- FNCMX – Fidelity NASDAQ Composite Index Fund (Expense Ratio: 0.3%, Minimum Investment: $0)
Why bother? Instead of gambling on individual stocks, index funds give you a slice of the entire market. They’re low-maintenance, cost-effective, and perfect for long-term investing. If you’re serious about building wealth, this is one of the smartest moves you can make.
2. Invest in real estate
Wouldn’t it be great if you could invest in commercial real estate and apartments without dealing with all the hassle of buying, improving, and re-selling real estate? You don’t have to be a millionaire to invest in these types of properties. You can now invest in large-scale real estate for as little as $10 with apps like Fundrise.
Fundrise is a great way to dip your toes into real estate investing without needing tons of cash upfront. For as little as $10, you can start building a real estate portfolio, and new users even get a $10 bonus to kick things off. Whether you're new to investing or looking to diversify, Fundrise offers an easy and flexible way to grow your money while investing in properties nationwide.
- Earn passive income with real estate investing starting at just $10
- Easy-to-use app for seamless access to crowd-funded real estate deals
- Perfect for those who want their money to work for them
3. Invest with Public
Forget the idea that you need thousands to start investing. With Public, you can buy a slice of Apple, Tesla, or Microsoft for a single dollar. No account minimum. No commissions. No gatekeeping.
Fractional shares start at $1, so any budget works. You get stocks, ETFs, Treasury bonds, and crypto all in one app, plus a high-yield cash account for the money you're not investing yet. Public also skips payment for order flow, the shady practice that burned a lot of Robinhood users, so you know your trades aren't being routed for someone else's profit.
The community feed is the part that hooked me. Real investors share what they're buying and why, which beats blindly copying some finfluencer on TikTok. For a student learning how the market actually works, that context is worth more than any flashy chart.
Most brokerages treat small investors like an afterthought. Public was built for them. If you've got $5 and a little curiosity, that's enough to start.
Open your free Public account here
- Start with just $1 in stocks, ETFs, Treasuries, bonds, or crypto, all from one account
- Earn high-yield interest on uninvested cash while you decide what to buy next
- Built for long-term investors, not day traders, so you actually build wealth over time
4. Invest in individual stocks
It’s a common misconception that when people hear about investing they believe that they need “a ton of money” in order to invest when actually the opposite is true. You don’t need millions of dollars or even tens of thousands of dollars in order to begin investing in individual stocks like Apple or Microsoft.
The best time to start investing is when you are just starting out with modest savings. The reason for this is the magic of compound interest.
Compound interest is when you earn money on a deposit (a percentage that varies depending on the type of account), and then you earn more interest on that interest from the initial deposit, and then this process keeps continuing for 10, 20 or 30 years until your money has greatly increased in value!
Example of compound interest: You invest $1,000 as an initial deposit into an account that pays a 6% interest rate (slightly lower than the average of the stock market), and then you deposit $300/month (About 10% of $50k/year salary). After 10 years you would have $50k, then $141k after 20 years and $307k after 30 years.
And this is even without increasing your savings relative to your rising salary!
The best part is that you can start doing this right now by using free investing apps like Robinhood that allow you to invest in individual stocks.
- Free stock worth $5 to $200 just for signing up and depositing at least $1
- No commissions on stocks, ETFs, options, or crypto trades
- Fractional shares from $1 so you can own a slice of any stock, even the expensive ones
- No account minimum, so you can start with whatever you have
5. Use free stock research tools
One of the biggest mistakes new investors make is buying stocks based on a TikTok video or a Reddit hype thread. Before you put money into any company, you should actually understand what you're buying. The good news is you don't need a Bloomberg terminal or a finance degree to do solid research. You just need the right free tools.
My go-to is Zacks. They've been ranking stocks since 1988, and their famous Zacks Rank system grades stocks from #1 Strong Buy down to #5 Strong Sell based on earnings estimate revisions. The basic membership is free, and it gives you access to stock ratings, earnings data, analyst reports, and screening tools that would cost you a fortune anywhere else.
If you want to go deeper, I've also been testing their premium research service. You can read my full breakdown in this Zacks Confidential review, where I walk through what's actually inside, who it's built for, and whether the picks are worth the price tag.
The point is this. Free research won't make you rich on its own, but it will keep you from making the dumb mistakes that wipe out beginner portfolios. Spend ten minutes checking a stock's Zacks Rank and recent earnings before you buy, and you'll already be ahead of most retail investors.
- 2 to 3 curated stock picks per issue
- Averaged +23.9% per year since 1988, more than doubling the S&P 500
- 100% money-back performance guarantee
6. Precious metals and commodities
The benefit of investing in metals such as gold and silver is that you can secure your assets in a relatively future-proof manner. The price of gold and silver stays constant, and institutions like the Federal Reserve are anchored to that gold.
Essentially, if your currency were to crash, you’d have something that’s worth something and will probably go up in price.
7. Start a business
Did you know that you can actually start a business with no money? The thing is, you don’t always need a rich uncle or to have a bank account filled with cash to start a business. It just might be that you lack creativity — because there are creative ways that you can finance your business. If you already have a business idea — then you have already gotten through the most challenging part.
If you are still worried about how you can start a business with literally zero funds, here are a few ideas to help start a business with no money.
8. Invest in cryptocurrency
If you're just starting out with small sums of money and want to get your feet wet with investing — try cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is a type of digital currency that you can use for digital purchases or you can trade like stocks. To buy and sell cryptocurrency including Bitcoin, you’ll need to use a Bitcoin exchange.
Don't miss out on the next Bitcoin surge, your $500 can go a long way. You can get started by checking out the best places to buy Bitcoin such as Robinhood Crypto.
- Trade crypto without commissions
- Manage crypto, stocks, and more in one app
- Trade anytime, day or night
Conclusion
Investment can sound scary given how the previous generation lost a good chunk of it.
However, millennials and students are saving better than ever before and have the income to get involved.
If you want to try and build a nest egg, but don’t want to shed all of your cash, consider these low-risk small investment ideas for students.
Before you go, you might be leaving free money on the table. Sign up for a few of these apps and you could pocket $50+ this month just for playing games and completing simple tasks. Most people start earning within minutes. See all verified apps here, free to join.
