Dental care. In business, many focus on looks. You can go farther if good looking than not. Replace lost teeth #1; fix cavities #2. If I had US$5,000 disposable, I'd have my lower teeth straightened.
$500 is tough because so many funds have minimum investment limits that are higher than that, but there are a few ideas that come to mind to get started. If I had only $500 to start with I would probably buy reaves utility income fund. It is a diversified fund of utility stocks, which are usually very stable, and it pays a decent dividend yielding over 5%. I would reinvest the dividends and add to this investment up to $3000, and then look to the next addition for my portfolio. If you want to chase a little higher yield, I would recommend checking out business development companies, like prospect capital, and REITs. You can get these as individual stocks, or in funds that offer protection through diversification. The key to it all is that the only way to see real growth is to add to your principle with future investments.
The thing about a modest amount such as $500 is that you'd want to preserve capital and keep expenses down to almost zero, while still getting diversification - which is why an index fund would be a good idea for a longterm investor just starting out. Or if you are using a discount brokerage that will allow you a number of free trades or trades for $1 or so, you can perhaps buy 5-6 good stocks you plan to hold for a while - IF you're confident in your ability to pick stocks at this point.
I suppose this makes the most sense, given the situation, although given that it's likely that someone with only $500 is just starting out, the ability to pick out stocks might be just a bit out of reach. The Index fund seems like the most beneficial.
Yeah, no doubt. The individual stock picker starting out with $500 would most likely be someone getting back into investing after having gone through some sort of difficulty such as a job loss or costly illness in the family or something. And bitcoin is very risky - basically like betting on a roulette wheel.
