All you need to do is put that money to work.
These days, many consumers are pretty much spending every dollar they have to cover essential bills. We can thank persistent inflation for that. And so if you don't have any money left over to invest with most months, it's understandable.
You may, however, come into a chunk of money at some point in time, whether it's a bonus at work or a tax refund. In fact, the average tax refund so far this year is $2,933, so even if you're only looking at about one-third of that, it's $1,000 to put to work. And if you're willing to invest that money, here's an easy way to do it.
Invest in the broad market
Some people are afraid to buy stocks in a brokerage account because they don't really know what it takes to research different companies and determine which ones are a good buy. If that's a dilemma you've faced, but you're eager to grow your money by investing, a good solution may be to load up on broad market ETFs.
ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, are publicly traded funds that track different benchmarks. Some ETFs track a specific sector, like healthcare or energy, while others track the broad market.
The great thing about ETFs is that they take a lot of the guesswork out of investing. Rather than spending hours researching different companies, you could, for example, buy shares of an S&P 500 ETF and see where that takes you. And chances are, it'll take you to a place where you're snagging a pretty sweet return on your money in the long run.
The S&P 500 index has generated an average yearly return of about 10% over the past 50 years. Now, let's say you're sitting on $1,000. If you put that money into an S&P 500 ETF, do nothing, and wait a little over 24 years, you could end up growing it into $10,000, assuming you get that same 10% average annual return. It really is that simple.
Put your money to good use
When you come into a chunk of money, it can be very tempting to spend it. But if you spend your money, you won't grow it into anything -- and you might soon come to miss it.
If you invest your money, you can turn it into even more money. And that could do a lot for you over time.
An extra $10,000 could come in very handy once you're ready to retire. It could also help pay for a large chunk of your kids' college education, or cover an expensive home repair or renovation you might otherwise have to put off.
So if you're sitting on $1,000, or any sum of money you don't need for immediate bills, it pays to invest that cash. And putting your money into broad market ETFs is a great way to generate solid returns over time without having to bear the stress of hand-picking stocks -- and potentially making some very unfavorable calls.
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