Four Life Hacks to Save & Invest More Money Than You Thought Possible

Let’s assume for a moment that you’ve got $500 a month that you can save or invest. Not a penny more.

The question is really: how can we make that monthly contribution even bigger without it costing you any more?

Sounds odd?

Sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible… 

Below you’ll find four powerful life hacks for maximizing the value of those contributions.

Even better, while they all work individually, you can even combine them in many cases for even bigger gains…  

Rewards & Cashback

Companies are desperate for you to save or invest with them rather than their competitors. As a result, rewards and cashback opportunities are rife.

Some banks will pay you to open an account with them. Some firms offer cashback when you start investing with them.

Shop around and you’ll be surprised by just how much extra you can really get for your money. 

Of course, the same applies to the rest of your money too. By using sites like TopCashback you can save money on your everyday expenses.

As a result, that $500 available to invest could actually become $600 or more without you having to compromise on your standard of living.  

Pre-Tax Investing

You don’t necessarily have to save or invest money after you’ve paid tax. There are ways to invest before the remainder of your income is then taxed.

I’m in the UK, so let me give you a simple British example. Basic tax here is 20% on earnings. Therefore £500 invested from post-tax income could be equivalent to £600 if the money is taken before I pay tax. And it hasn’t cost me a penny more. 

In the US, a 401(k) would be a good example of where you can invest from pre-tax income.

Government Incentives

It seems odd, but sometimes the government decides to incentivize certain savings or investments.

Here in the UK I save into a Lifetime ISA (LISA) and the government tops up my investment by 25%.

I also earn interest on my investment on top of this too.

It’s literally free money, with the only caveat being that I have to leave it invested till the age of 60 unless I’m happy to pay some stiff exit penalties. 

Compound Interest

That $500 you’re looking to invest could be worth a lot more in the future.

All you need to do is take the interest you earn each year and roll that into your investment. You then earn interest on your original $500 plus the interest. This rolls and rolls. 

Using a compound interest calculator we can observe the power of compound interest when you reinvest your gains…

Assuming a 6% interest rate, over 20 years that $500 investment could turn in to $1,603. You more than trebled your money. 

Conclusion

As you can see, that $500 you can save doesn’t have to be $500 at all. 

Lets just play with some figures as an example. Maybe I could earn $100 cashback for opening a new investment account. Perhaps I could invest my money pre-tax. Suddenly that $500 has already turned into $700.

Over 20 years, by reinvesting my earnings that $700 turns into $2,244 assuming a 6% interest rate. In 30 years it’s $4,020.

You actually got back 8x what you saved.

The thing here is that no matter how little you have to invest, when you apply the right leverage that money can be worth a lot more than you might realize.

So start today, because the sooner you start, the longer this money has time to accrue.