3 ways to invest $1,000

get this question a lot because some people have a little extra spare cash and they want to use it wisely. Consider all the pros and cons of whatever you use it for: Don’t just go and buy yourself something nice. It’s far better in the long run to spend your money, and time, on things that can change your life for the better! Here are three options:

Investment No. 1: Open an online discount brokerage account

My new favorite broker, E*Trade, allows low minimums to open an account. It’ll take you a few years to turn this small amount into anything great, but by having an account open and funded you can be prepared for tremendous investment opportunities. The world is moving faster than ever and technology is evolving so rapidly that by having an account open you can invest in world-changing companies whenever they announce meaningful news. Remember, I made my millions trading penny stocks and while they’re looked down upon by practically everyone, they can spike 50 percent or even 100 percent in a day or two — so if you know the rules you can double or triple your account in just a few days or weeks. Do that for a few years and you’re a millionaire just like my top students, one of whom has grown his $1,500 nest egg into $2.5 million in just 4 years.

Investment No. 2: Invest In yourself

$1,000 cannot put you through college, but thanks to educational courses offered on the Internet, you could learn life-changing skills for very small dollar amounts. Take my newsletter, PennyStocking Silver, for example: It’s $99.95/month and it comes with daily watchlists, stock market commentary, chatroom access, trade alerts and most importantly access to nearly 3,000 video lessons in my content library covering everything I’ve ever learned in the stock market over the past 15 years. If the stock market isn’t your thing, just do some Google searches for the area of expertise you’re passionate about and you’ll be surprised how cheap and useful online education can be. Study your butt off at whatever you love in this world and become an expert yourself so you can start teaching and charging money for your experience too!

Investment No. 3: Give it away

I know many people cling to $1,000 like it’s the most precious thing in the world, but if you want to truly live, cast away your safety net and live humbly. I know this sounds crazy, especially coming from a multi-millionaire, but this year I’m giving away $2 million to help the less fortunate and really push myself to earn that money back. I find that when I have less money than I’m comfortable with, I push myself harder.. Obviously if you need money for rent, food or medical bills, this option is not possible, but if you have enough money to live off of, consider giving any excess capital away to someone who needs it more. You’ll be amazed at how great it feels to help someone in need.

Things I Liked:

The U.S. government passed net neutrality that makes the Internet fair for years to come.

Apple announced several new technology products in the next few weeks; I’m excited!

The U.S. stock market continues to offer up more opportunities daily than we’ve seen in years. I’m banking, my students are banking, but are you?

Up:

Props to Kanye West for apologizing to Beck for his rude behavior. Perhaps this talented little boy is growing up?

Down:

I still get tons of emails from people who think the stock market has to go up for them to make money, Wrong! You can profit from the downside too via short selling.