Hello Grasshoppa,

One of the earliest posts when I started to write my blog is What Can You Invest With RM1000. That was in February 2018. It is crazy to know that BBM Blog have been active for the past 2 years & BBM is rated as one of the best personal finance websites in Malaysia right behind KC Lau & I am tied at No. 6 along with Ringgit Oh Ringgit. When I wrote about What Can You Invest With RM1000, that was the amount where I thought many people were comfortable with & it was a good amount to start investing but I was wrong. Imagine if you are a student or you have a tight budget but you still want to invest, RM1000 can be a bit of a challenge to some of you.

This has inspired me to write on today’s post to let all of you know that it is possible to start investing with just RM100 or lesser. It is whether you want to take your first step or not to get your hands on to invest. Your next question to me would probably be, what if I do not know how to invest or don’t know where to start? If that is your concern, then you can read my previous post on How To Start Your First Investment Without A Financial Planner before you continue to read this post.

What Can You Invest With RM100 or Lesser?

Private Retirement Scheme (PRS)
It is a voluntary long term saving & investment scheme that is designed to help you to save more for retirement. If you have invested in PRS in 2017 or 2018, you will get extra RM1000 when you contribute RM1000 in total. It is similar to EPF but what I like about it is, you are able to select various providers to invest in. Currently I am saving in PRS via FSMONE & what I like about PRS is, you able to enjoy income tax relief up to RM3000 per annum if you contribute RM3000. (From FY2012-FY2021) Initial contribution amount starts at RM100 & subsequent investment amount is as low as RM50. (Depending on the PRS providers requirement)

Mutual Fund
Mutual Fund or Unit Trust is also another platform where you can invest as low as RM100 or lesser. I used to invest in it when I was younger & I actually sold all my mutual funds to switch to Robo-Advisor as I find it to be expensive in terms of the load fees & management fees. Of course, there is no free lunch in this world so I have to pay some professional fees as there is a dedicated team that is handling this fund to ensure it is profitable. You can also take advantage of your investment exposure if you would like to invest in foreign countries & assets. Minimum initial investment starts at RM100 & subsequent investment can be as low as RM50. (Depending on the fund terms & conditions)

Robo-Advisor
The first Securities Commission Malaysia approved Robo-Advisor is called StashAway where I am currently investing my money in. One thing I like about Robo-Advisor is, it is all based on data algorithms & no emotions involve. That is why it’s called Robo-Advisor. One of the reasons why some investments fail is mainly because of human emotions involved where they invest based on feelings and not actual data. Sounds familiar? It is really easy to invest in Robo-Advisor as they will determine your portfolio risk based on your investment goals. Their management fee is also generally cheaper compared to mutual fund management fee. Aside from StashAway, there are also other Robo-Advisor companies in Malaysia such as Raiz, MYTHEO & Wahed Invest (Shariah-Compliant). Initial investment amount & subsequent investment amount can be as low as RM10. (Depending on the Robo-Advisor company terms & conditions)

P2P Financing 
It is a financing platform where investors borrow their money to the borrowers & earn interest from doing it. I’ve been investing in P2P Financing for both Funding Societies & Fundaztic & I personally think that it is a high-risk investment with high return. The investment amount can be as low as RM100 but in order to minimise your investment risk, it is recommended for you to invest in at least 10 notes or more as there is a high chance that the notes will be defaulted & getting your money back can take awhile or it may never be back. Aside from Funding Societies & Fundaztic, there are also other P2P Financing platforms such as B2B Finpal, Alixco, Nusa Kapital (Shariah-Compliant), microLEAP & many others.

HelloGold
If you have invested in gold prior to 2019, you will be seeing a huge increase in your gold investment in 2020. Currently, gold price is sky high due to the market uncertainties resulted from the pandemic. There are many ways to invest in gold & I personally prefer to invest in digital gold instead of physical gold. By buying digital gold, usually the minimum buying is 1 gram but with HelloGold, your gold investment can be as low as RM1. Prior to investing in HelloGold, I am investing in gold via CIMB Gold but after meeting HelloGold Team, I decided to invest gold via HelloGold platform & honestly the platform is better comparing to CIMB Gold. The minimum investment is lower & the platform is user friendly. If you are looking to invest in gold, this is a highly recommended investment for you to try.

Stocks
This is the part where some people start to think. Is it really possible to invest in stocks with as low as RM100 or lower? Yes, it is possible. Minimum purchase of a company’s stock in Malaysia is 1 Board Lot or 100 Shares. That means you can buy a company’s share that is traded less than RM0.70 per share x 100 shares = RM70. After you add on the Brokerage Fee, Clearance Fee & Stamp Duty, it may add on additional RM10-RM20. So total you are paying less than RM100. But personally I don’t recommend buying such a small amount of shares as the Brokerage Fee, Clearance Fee & Stamp Duty will take the profit off from your investment. But if you are looking to try investing in stocks & learning to use the investment platform, you may try it with a smaller amount.

Conclusion :

What is your excuse now that you have no money to invest if you can invest with as low as RM100 or even lesser? Of course by investing small amount of money also means that your profit will be smaller but if you are looking to invest long term, starting with a small amount will be a good investment habit when you have more capital to invest in future. It is all about building good habits from the start & it will pay off with good investment return in the future. There’s a common question that I am always getting from many people, “what will be my investment return if I invest X amount of money?” The answer is, it depends on each market situation & there is no guarantee in each investment. That is why it is important to start your investment habits now & build your investment portfolio for the long run (10 years onwards).  You will see the investment return as long as you are consistent with your investment.

OSS!