Ask HN: How to invest $1, $10, $100, ...etc.?

My boring answer... At every level you'd look at your available investment choices and try to balance a predictable return with the rate of potential growth. Hopefully as you walk up that latter, you get stepped into a more lucrative pool of choices. Likely the best things available on each rung are going to be the investments that you personally understand best.

$1 - A can and a piece of cardboard to use to beg for money

$10 - A spray bottle and rag to wash cars with

$100 - A book

$1,000 - A few classes at community college

$10,000 - A really cheap degree of some sort

$100,000 - Index funds

$1,000,000 - Rental property

$1: Mega Millions ticket

$10: Two five dollar scratch offs

$100: Books

$1000: Depending on the company, now you can start looking into mutual funds. Personally, I would invest it in a nice vacation

$10000: This is firm mutual fund territory. Simple Vanguard index fund.

$100000: At this level I like real estate, but I've never made it this high so I can't really say. But I've been close enough that I've thought about it.

And any higher I am just blowing smoke because I have no real knowledge of monetary numbers that high.

$1: keep in my wallet

$10: keep in my checking account

$100: keep in my saving account

$1,000: buy CD/treasury I-series bond

$10,000: buy index mutual fund

$100,000: buy index mutual funds

$1,000,000: buy index mutual funds, a few stocks, primary residence

$10,000,000: buy index mutual funds, stocks, primary residence, real estate investment, a portion dedicated to 'pay it forward'.

...

Are you assuming that all of your other non-mortgage debt has already been paid off?

Dollar-cost-average into a Vanguard index fund.

$1: top-up someone else's metro card, it will restore their faith in humanity

$10: find a neighbourhood coffee shop, buy a coffee, tip the rest, talk to locals

$100: Kindle/books

$1,000: Choose a trade, buy the tools, master them

$10,000: Travel outside your comfort zone, talk to locals, learn their language, get perspective

$100,000: Invest half, spend the other half on the previous items

$1,000,000+: Don't be a money-driven role model to others, study politics and people, use your financial cushion to do good in your community. Stay interested, stay awesome.

VO -- mid-caps have better Sharpe ratios than large-caps... but you'll need $117 for a single share

$1: Costco hotdog $10: Book $100: Computer $1000: Community college $10000: Rent $100000: Down payment on a house $1000000: Rental property