Ten things to do with $100
If you’ve only got $100, it’s hard to get access to the sharemarket. Most of the time you have to buy a parcel of shares bigger than that just to get in. But you can get around those restrictions by investing in an exchange-traded fund (ETF). If you want exposure to New Zealand companies, you could put your $100 into something like the SmartShares NZ Top 50 fund, which has returned 17.31 per cent over the past year. (Past returns are no indicator of future performance).
Bitcoin values have plummeted recently. At the start of the year, a bitcoin was worth more than $27,000. Now, it’s more like $9750. There’s no guarantee it won’t fall further but, equally, it’s not a 100 per cent bet that it won’t pick up again. Software company founder John McAfee has promised to eat a sensitive part of his own body if bitcoin doesn’t hit US$1 million by 2020. Compared with that, risking $100 doesn’t seem a lot. Platforms such as MyBitcoinSaver allow you to purchase part of a coin.
You can register a domain name for about $20. Most of the time that’s all it’ll ever be worth – unless you manage to claim one that suddenly becomes very sought-after. Wikipedia claims carinsurance.com sold in 2010 for US$49.7m.
If you have the ability to make an extra one-off payment, that $100 will save you more than you expect. If you have a $500,000 mortgage, over 25 years at an interest rate of 5 per cent, you’ll pay $376,392 in interest (assuming interest rates stay this low, which they probably won’t). Make an extra $100 repayment and you’ll save another $75 over the life of your mortgage – and more if interest rates rise.
You won’t get any financial return but lending money through a platform such as Kiva has a serious feel-good factor. People from developing countries apply for money to get their businesses going. These are then funded in $25 increments from people all over the world. The loans are managed by local field partners. Kiva has a 96.8 per cent repayment rate, so while you won’t earn interest, you should get your money back. You can search for people you want to lend money to by country or industry.
You could choose to give your money to a New Zealand charity. If you donate to a registered charity in this country, you can apply for a third of the money back as a tax rebate – if you then donated that refund, you could turn your charitable $100 into a donation of $133.33. It’s sometimes possible to strike it lucky with an unwanted gift card being sold on Trade Me for cheaper than its store value. This week, a Little Big Tree Co $100 voucher was listed at $50 no reserve, and a $100 King’s Plant Barn voucher was listed at $85 no reserve. If you spot a voucher for somewhere you were going to shop anyway, you might be able to stretch your money a little further.
Get rid of high-interest debt before you think of doing anything else. If you had $100 on a credit card and were only paying it off at $5 a month, you’d spend $26 in interest just paying it off.
You can buy an ounce of silver for about $22, roughly half what it was in 2011. Precious metals tend to perform well in times of geopolitical or stockmarket upheaval – if you think that’s coming, adding some silver to your portfolio might pay off.
Sometimes it helps to have some money hidden away just in case. If you’re worried you’ll be tempted to spend, put it in an ice cube tray, pour some water over it and stick it in the freezer. You’ll have to wait for it to thaw before you can spend it.