How can one who is already in his 40's and only has about $100/month to spare, invest for the future/old age?

It seems most investment plans require a minimum initial investment of thousands of dollars. I have no savings or retirement plans whatsoever- what can I do about it now for $100/ month?

Check into E-trade...you might have to save 'til you get to $500. or so ...but then open an IRA account... You can invest in an " ETF" ( like a mutual fund, but the " buy-in is cheaper)...
Even if it's just 10 or 15 shares of something, you got your start....then you can add monthly when you can. It won't take long before you have a lump big enough to " split-off" into maybe a second ETF....
Now, you just let it ride....you're not going to be a millionaire, but it surely will add up. Even at 45, you still have years and years for your nest-egg to grow.
There's a site: http://www.finishrich.com/free_resources...
If you put in your monthly contribution, and the years you'll be adding and a good guess ( say 9%) ...it will give you some kind of idea of what can be waiting down the road !
...and who knows? your return percentage could be better...and/or you may see it growing and try a little harder to add to it ...it only takes a few more bucks a month, or a percentage rate in the teens to double your first estimate..try it !!
Good luck....better late than never... and YOU WILL DO FINE... just because you're willing to make the effort.
P.S. And none of this is as complicated as it sounds... give it a shot. You can read and you have a keyboard...everything you need.
Geeez, some of the answers above seem to have come from people who have never been in a tight spot! Well, I have and I know people who have...but what I've learned is YOU'VE GOT TO DO IT.... nobody, not the government, not a charity, not your " Uncle Ned" is going to take care of you down the road.... AND, like I said it's not hard....just an extension of " common sense"
To better days ahead...

You are living beyond your means if money is this tight at your age. If you align your standard of living with your income you will be OK. As it stands you are in serious trouble if anything unplanned happens.

Get a second job delivering pizzas and EVERY PENNY from that job, NO MATTER WHAT goes into a savings account until you have enough to begin to buy a long term mutual fund. Go to daveramsey.com and check out his advice. You can get his books at the library.

lottery tickets.

start small try mutual funds there are some good ones for $250 to start (CWGFX is my personal favorite) let that build up and then take some of it and put it into an online savings bank (Ing direct, emigrantdirect etc) and cutting back on your expenses if possible (you didn't state this) but don't jump in making high risk investments take your time and do it right.

Invest in a private pension plan. Or buy investment residential property in somewhere like Morocco, Egypt, or Venezuala. You may be able to get a local mortgage. It's high-risk but you could make a lot of money. Depends on how adventurous you want to be. Germany is another possibility. You can still buy an apartment in Berlin for like 70 or 80 k (Euros).

Or save up and invest in Green/ethical funds. This area is really going to take off in the near future and the right time to get in is now.

If it was me I would change how I was living and save more money by puttting it in a IRA.

But if all you got is $100 a month and there is no way for you to get more Putting it in Series I saving bonds is better than not saving anything at all.

And as others have said you may want to think about getting a second job at you age with no retirment savings you should be saving about $1000 a month to have a retirment. Unless you plan on working until you die.

If you agree to have at least $50 per month (until you reach their usual $2500 minimum) electronically transfered out of your checking, the T. Rowe Price family of mutual funds will allow you to invest starting with $50. Go to www.troweprice.com for more information.

Hi,

1. Start your special investment savings account. The $100 goes directly into this account. There it earns interest for now.
You employ this money to make you money later when you learn more about managing your money to make you money.

2. You start looking at your expenses and trim them. The money you save is used for business expenses and to buy ads etc. This pool of funds is your biz expense account and you should keep these funds separate....in a jar, or different bank account...do not pool these funds with others.

You can use a credit card if you are disiplined and pay off any expense before you are slapped with interest.

You start your own online business/or offline or both. The returns on your business can be quite good when you can do things cheaply. I'll include resources you can use below.

What can you do? Can you provide a service? House cleaning can be easy to get..no one likes it and everyone needs it! You decide what you can do.

Online it's cheap..you just have to attract people to your website. You can have a website for nothing..built simply I'll show you an example.

3. Give your money to someone and they do it for you...but you could lose it all. Investment =Risk.

4. Manage the money yourself. This requires education. You can learn how. Free books at the library and online. Maenwhile your investment pool is growing in your bank account. You will make use of this as soon as you have passed your apprenticeship.

Resources are numbered below for each scenario: