What if I told you that you can invest like a millionaire – right now?

As it turns out, you can. Thanks to the internet, crowdsourcing, and a variety of great companies, you and I can invest in many of the same deals that were once reserved exclusively for the wealthy.

Of course, millionaires invest the majority of their funds conservatively (often using index funds and ETFs like those available on Betterment). However, they also focus on bigger investments that have the potential for higher yields.  

From startups to real estate, it’s easier than ever to buy into the same deals that used to be available exclusively to millionaires. Plus, using free tools like Personal Capital, we can track and grow our wealth just like millionaires. 

If you’re ready to start investing like the wealthy, you’ve come to the right place. The following websites and tools allow you invest like a millionaire — earning potential double digit returns on investments as small as $100 – $1,000. 

Ready to get started? Here are 4 ways that millionaires invest — and you can too.

1. Millionaires Invest in Stocks Before They Go Public (Pre-IPO)

Anyone can buy stocks once they are publicly traded. However, those who buy stocks before their Initial Public Offering (IPO) make the big bucks.

Let me illustrate with Alibaba – the Chinese retailer that went public a few years back. Early investors were able to buy stock the day before it went public at $35 per share. However, once the stock went live, the price shot up to $65 per share – which is the price that regular investors (like you and me) had to pay.

What does this mean? The investors who were able to buy the stock early saw their money almost double overnight!

Until recently, you had to be able to invest millions of dollars into a company if you wanted to buy stock pre-IPO. For most investors, this isn’t possible. Therefore, we were all stuck buying shares of Alibaba at $65 when the wealthy were able to purchase it at $35.

Fortunately, that’s not the case anymore.

We can now invest in IPOs before they go public with Motif Investing

Fairly recently Motif Investing teamed up with JPMorgan to offer investors exclusive access to IPO deals before they become publicly traded. Now anyone with a Motif Investing account can purchase shares of a startup before the general public!

This means that you and I can buy into the next IPO company at a substantially discounted rate. And, although investing in IPOs is always risky, the returns are substantially higher (and the risk lower) when you invest before it shows up on the stock market.

To see the latest company offerings available, create a free Motif Investing account and go to the Explore > IPO tab.

2. Millionaires Invest in Real Estate

Despite his questionable ethics, Donald Trump turned a “small $1 million loan” into several billion through the use of real estate. And he’s not alone. Many of the world’s wealthiest people invest heavily in property.

Because real estate is insured, if you make a good initial purchase, you don’t have to worry about the safety of your investment. If a company goes bankrupt, stockholders lose everything. However, if a rental property is destroyed, the insurance company reimburses you for the loss. This minimizes your downside.

Anyone with around $50,000 can go out and buy a small rental property. However, the time and cost associated with managing that single property can often make it too time consuming to be worth it.

Meanwhile, a millionaire is able to buy an entire apartment complex and hire a manager and maintenance team. That millionaire earns the same percentage return (or better) than the owner of the small rental, without having to spend any of their own time dealing with the property!

Fortunately, us “regular guys” can now enjoy similar deals.

We can now buy into large investment properties for as little as $1,000 with Fundrise

Fundrise is a crowdfunding platform that gathers investments from thousands of small investors to make large real estate purchases. These investors have the opportunity to earn as much as 8-13% in annual returns from the properties.

Because the investment is backed by property, this is probably one of the safest investments available (but of course, there is still the risk of loss). And, although other real estate investment platforms are only available to accredited investors (those who make at least $200k/year), Fundrise has filed with the SEC to be available to all investors – regardless of income.

Create a free account on Fundrise to explore the latest real estate investment opportunities. Fundrise is one of my current investments and I have been very happy with their returns to date.

3. Millionaires Back Startups as Angel Investors

The riskiest, yet most profitable, investment opportunity that millionaires have is buying into early-stage startups. This is what the investors do on the show Shark Tank.

If an entrepreneur has a great idea, but is unable to finance it themselves, they seek angel investors. These investors provide capital in exchange stock.

Because the risk is high, so is the potential reward. In some cases, an angel investor can earn 100x or more of their initial investment if the company excels. But other times, the investors lose everything.

Because of the high risk, the government traditionally prevented non-accredited investors (those earning under $200k/year) from buying into startups. Although the goal of this law was to protect unknowledgeable investors from losing everything, it also prevented many smart people from being able to buy into brilliant business ideas that could provide a fantastic return.

Fortunately, this law was just recently changed!

We can now invest as little as $100 into startups on approved crowdfunding platforms like WeFunder

Thanks to a change in the crowdfunding regulation, all Americans can invest $2,000 a year in startups – regardless of your financial position.

What does this mean? You can go explore the startups on WeFunder and invest in any of them that you think can make a decent return.

Most of these businesses will probably fail, so you don’t want to invest more than you can afford to lose. However, if you buy $100 in the next Facebook, in 5-10 years that could be worth $10,000! So it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on the list of companies fundraising.

4. Millionaires Invest in Their Own Businesses

It’s estimated that the average millionaire has 7 sources of income. According to The Millionaire Next Door, nearly two-thirds of all millionaires (and all self-made billionaires) own their own business. Therefore, one of the best ways you can start investing like a millionaire is to start your own business.

Millionaires love businesses because the only limit is your own effort and creativity. Develop a plan, hire a team, and watch the business grow!

Of course, most of us don’t have the money to be able to hire a team and invest in expensive infrastructure.

Fortunately, that’s no longer necessary.

We can now start our own business for as little as $1.99/month by launching a blog with WordPress on iPage

I’ve managed a few small online businesses over the years, including this blog – which currently brings in about $500-2000/month.

Although Money Nomad isn’t making me a millionaire yet, it certainly gives me some extra-spending money. Plus, every month my average seems to go up. With some bloggers making $100,000+ per month, the growth potential is pretty high.

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to start a business, consider launching your own informational website or blog. The cost is low, and the income potential is very high.

How do you launch a blog?

• Sign up for a hosting account on iPage and install WordPress for free.
• Choose a subject for your blog. Consider a topic that can be easily monetized (meaning that people make purchases associated with it).
• Find products that will pay you to promote them. You can find these businesses/products on FlexOffers, ShareASale, AdmitAd, and Amazon. Consider purchasing the Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course if you want to save yourself hours of trial and error (the course benefited me tremendously).
• Write blog posts and share them across social media – possibly using tools like PicMonkey and Tailwind to help you (I use both of these).
• Gather email addresses from visitors using SumoMe and Aweber.
• Consider hiring people to help you with specific tasks using Fiverr.
• Recognize that slow-and-steady wins the race. It took me a year to cross the $200/month mark – but now I’m making a decent bit of extra income!

How Will You Invest?

So there you have it, four ways to invest like a millionaire. While these opportunities didn’t exist 25 years ago, today we can:

1. Invest in pre-IPO stocks using Motif Investing.
2. Invest in real estate with Fundrise.
3. Invest in startups with WeFunder.
4. Invest in our own businesses by launching a blog on iPage.

Currently, I use all of these tools (along with a few others) to grow my personal wealth. Although not a millionaire yet, I enjoy the many opportunities that are available to us today.

Now that you’ve discovered how you can invest like a millionaire, give it a shot! And then come back here and let me know how it’s going. With a bit of hard work and creativity, I have no doubt that we can both reach millionaire status.