Investing might feel out of reach if you’re living on a fixed income—but investing isn’t just for people with big paychecks or massive portfolios. In fact, investing is one of the best ways to build long-term financial security and protect your money from inflation. 

Think about it: When your cash sits in a checking or savings account, it’s stagnant—and its buying power even shrinks over time as prices rise. Investing, on the other hand, helps your money work for you instead of slowly losing value.

“Investing may have more risk than money kept in the bank, but it gives you a better chance to create wealth over time,” writes the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Tools made for everyday people now make it easy to start investing with small amounts of money—even on a fixed income. So whether you rely on retirement income, disability payments, freelance work or a tight monthly budget, you can still grow your savings without needing thousands upfront.

And while you’re building your investing plan, KashKick can help you make extra money along the way. By earning cash back, rewards and bonuses for everyday activities, you can create extra funds to support your fixed income investing goals—without stretching your budget.

What Is Fixed Income Investing?

When people hear “fixed income investing,” they often think it only applies to retirees, but it really means investing while working with a steady, limited or predictable income.

Fixed income investing focuses on growing your money carefully without disrupting your ability to pay everyday expenses. Instead of chasing risky, high-return stocks, the goal is to balance safety, accessibility and steady growth.

People who use fixed income investing often prioritize:

• Preserving their savings
• Earning consistent returns
• Avoiding large losses
• Keeping money accessible

It’s less about getting rich quickly and more about making smart, sustainable choices over time.

Why Invest When You Don’t Have a Lot of Money?

Investing small dollar amounts isn’t a get-rich-quick strategy. The people who make the most money in the stock market tend to be the ones who have the most to invest in the first place—that ol’ “it takes money to make money” adage. But investing a little bit is a smart way to grow your savings faster and bolster your funds against inflation.

Inflation is the measure of how fast industries are raising prices over time. When your grandma talks about getting a gallon of milk for a nickel? The difference between that and the $4 you pay now is the inflation rate for that product.

When you put long-term savings into an account (or under your mattress) and earn no interest, the value of that money actually goes down. Yes, the amount stays the same, but how much you can buy with it shrinks each year. 

Historically, investing helps counteract that. While inflation averages around 2% per year, the stock market has grown about 7% each year when adjusted for inflation. Both of those fluctuate some years, but historically, those averages hold over the long term. Remember: Investing is a long game!

Best Options for Fixed Income Investing

Not all investments are ideal when money is tight. The best fixed income investing strategies focus on stability and diversification.

Index Funds and ETFs

Index funds and ETFs track large parts of the market instead of individual companies. That spreads your risk and delivers steadier long-term growth.

When comparing your options, look for funds with low expense ratios, and use apps that offer automated portfolios. When possible, reinvest your dividends.

Bonds and Fixed-Income Products

Bonds provide predictable income and lower volatility than stocks, which makes them popular in fixed income investing.

Just be sure to avoid locking all your money into long terms—you could face penalties if you need to pull it out. You’ll also want to compare APYs. That’s the interest rate earned on an investment in one year, including compounding interest.

Micro-Investing Apps

Micro-investing platforms are great for beginner investors. They let you invest spare change or small deposits automatically—perfect for beginners and anyone on a budget. Set recurring contributions, even $5 per week, and choose conservative or balanced portfolios. Make sure you review platform fees before investing long-term.

Fixed Income Investing: How to Get Started

Here are three practical ways to start fixed income investing when you’re not making a ton of money.

1. Start Small

If you’re on a fixed or low income and most of your money goes toward monthly bills, you can’t throw a bunch of money into the stock market and hope it gets you rich. For one, that’s not how investing works. Second, you need that money! Don’t stick it in an investment account where it’s hard to access without penalties.

Instead, start with very small amounts of money—we’re talking $1 or $5 at a time. Even with tight resources, you probably won’t miss a couple of bucks tucked away each week.

Traditional advisors often require hundreds or thousands to get started, but apps don’t. Here are a few KashKick-friendly micro-investing options:

• The Acorns app has a Spare Change feature that rounds up your everyday purchases to the next dollar and channels that extra bit into a varied investment mix. It’s all automatic, so you don’t have to think about a thing—and it adds up faster than you might think!
• Ark7 is a real estate investment app, created by an ex-Google engineer, that allows you to invest in shares of rental homes starting at $20. Browse and invest in properties across the U.S. from a single-family home in Dallas to a multifamily home in Seattle.
• With Grifin, the premise is simple: You’ll automatically invest in the places where you spend money. So next time you swing by Starbucks for your favorite treat, Grifin will also invest $1 in Starbucks stock. Place an Amazon order? That’s $1 in Amazon stock!

Even better, KashKick often partners with these platforms and rewards members when they sign up and start investing. Sign up for KashKick and head to “Deals” to see what kind of cash rewards you can snag! As soon as you earn $10, you can cash out through PayPal—and invest it!

2. Invest with Caution

Investors with a ton of money can take big risks; they can afford to lose the money if an investment doesn’t pan out. When income is limited, that’s not the case. Don’t gamble with your money by investing in trendy industries or meme stocks.

When you don’t have a ton of money to invest, you’re not going to strike it big with trendy stocks, anyway. (Double $5 is still only $10, you know?) Put your money into reliable funds, where they’re likely to grow steadily over time and boost your savings.

All investments come with some amount of risk—nothing protects your investment from losing value. But ETFs and mutual funds that track market indexes, like the S&P 500, spread your money across multiple industries and companies, so big shifts in one area don’t completely rock your savings. Focus on these funds—called index funds or index-based ETFs—instead of picking stocks from individual companies.

Most micro-investing apps let you invest in mutual funds and ETFs. And the more user-friendly apps make it easy to pick whole portfolios based on low, medium or high risk, so you can let the app make the picks for you!

You can learn more about these options in the section above!

3. Get Help Without High Fees

One of the biggest reasons investing used to be reserved for the rich was the high cost of an investment advisor. Advisory firms might charge high fees, capture a percentage of your investments and sell you on a bunch of products just to nab a commission.

But we don’t need them anymore.

Investment apps, like the ones listed above, include “robo-advisers,” essentially algorithms or AI that help you make smart investment moves. If you want, they can even automatically make those moves for you, just like an investment firm would do. They don’t charge commissions, and their fees are a tiny fraction of what you’d pay human advisors. (Some apps are even free to use!)

Many apps even let you chat with AI advisors, so you talk through your unique savings goals and get advice for the best moves to make.

How Much Should You Put Toward Fixed Income Investing?

There’s no perfect number for fixed income investing. The right amount is whatever you can invest consistently without stressing your budget.

Before investing, make sure essentials like housing, food, health care and emergency savings are covered. After that, even small contributions add up. For most people, fixed income investing works best when consistency beats size.

Before you get started, make sure you have an emergency fund first. Remember: Investing is not a form of saving. Start with investing 1% to 5% of your income, then slowly increase your contributions as you become more comfortable.

Sustainable investing always beats aggressive investing when income is fixed.

Start Investing Today

Even on a fixed or low income, investing can be part of your financial plan. It’s a way to help your money grow over time, and you can get started with just a few dollars—or even your spare change. Hey, you can even invest your earnings from playing games, taking surveys and trying apps through KashKick!

Remember: Investing isn’t about being rich or having a lot of money right now. It’s about making the most of what you have to make a better plan for your financial future.