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Investing Smart on a Shoestring Budget

Investors with larger budgets tend to make larger returns for a variety of reasons. They can hire the best advisers, use the best research methods, use the best technology and create well diversified portfolios. Less afluent investors have a much more difficult time meeting their expectations. Oftentimes, these investors struggle to create well diversified portfolios with the commissions they charge.

As you enter different life situations, you are likely to find that your spending habits will change. When your kids enter college, you may have to cut back on investments when the tuition bill comes due. Fortunately, there are still ways that you can manage your money when you are going to get your investing objectives figured out.

There are new applications and services that can help you figure your finances out. These include tools such as Goalmine and Betterment. With these applications, you can figure out what your goals are and structure an investing regimen that will help you reach them.

In the case of Betterment, your money will be placed in ETFs that will help you match your goals. Betterment will help you grow your money with minimal involvement. Your funds are professionally managed and change automatically as they need to be re-balanced.

Goalmine provides a different service. Goalmine is specifically setup to help people with small investments reach their goals. You only need $25 to create an account with Goalmine. The program will even allow you to trade in your gift cards for a membership. After that, you can go to work building your portfolio and preparing to meet your financial goals.

Twenty years ago, as an investor with less than $1,000, you would never have had the opportunities available to you today. Developments in information technology have opened up our worlds to entirely new opportunities that anyone can take advantage of.

What are your investing goals in the coming year? Why don’t you consider using services such as Betterment and Goalmine to help you reach them.