One of the best questions I've received recently was this:

"What if I can't afford to invest much? Is it still worth starting?"

The short answer is yes.

Many people believe investing is only for those with thousands of pounds available. In reality, some of the most successful investors simply started with what they could afford and increased their contributions over time.

The biggest mistake is not starting with too little; the biggest mistake is never starting at all.

Today, many investment platforms allow you to start investing with as little as £25 or £50 per month.

While that may not sound like much, investing is not about becoming wealthy overnight. It is about building a habit and allowing compounding to work over many years.

Every investor starts somewhere.

If I were starting from scratch with a relatively small monthly contribution, I would focus on simplicity.

One fund worth considering is the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund.

The fund owns thousands of companies from around the world, providing instant diversification through a single investment. It includes large, medium and smaller companies across both developed and emerging markets.

Because it is a mutual fund rather than an ETF, investors can contribute exact pound amounts rather than needing to buy whole shares. This can be particularly useful when investing smaller sums each month.

Despite the name, you do not need to invest directly through Vanguard. The fund is available through a range of investment platforms, including Vanguard, Interactive Investor, AJ Bell, Hargreaves Lansdown, Fidelity and many others.

If choosing this fund, I would generally opt for the Accumulation version. This means any dividends generated by the underlying companies are automatically reinvested back into the fund, allowing your money to compound without any additional effort.

It is a simple approach, but investing is often at its most effective when it is simple.

Let's look at an example.

If an investor contributed £50 per month for 10 years, they would invest a total of £6,000.

Assuming an average annual return of between 10% and 12%, that investment could potentially grow to between £10,200 and £11,500. Returns of this magnitude have been achieved by global equity markets and funds such as the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund over extended periods.

In other words, a substantial portion of the portfolio would come from investment growth rather than contributions alone.

These figures are provided for illustrative purposes only and assume an annual return of 10%–12%. Actual returns will vary and future performance is never guaranteed.

While the Vanguard FTSE Global All Cap Index Fund has delivered strong long-term returns, investors should remember that markets do not rise in a straight line. Some years will be better than others, and periods of decline are a normal part of investing.

Too many people focus on how much they can invest. Successful investors focus on getting started.

A £50 monthly investment may not feel significant today, but neither does planting an acorn. Given enough time, however, small actions repeated consistently can produce remarkable results.

Start with an amount you can comfortably afford. Increase it when circumstances allow. Stay invested through the ups and downs.

The investors who build wealth are rarely those who start with the most money.

More often, they are simply the people who started earlier and stayed the course.

The Compounder
Long-term investing made simple.