What I’d Do With My First $500 If I Started Investing Today: My Step-by-Step Plan for 2026
The Table with Anthony ONeal
Host Anthony O'Neal presents a comprehensive roadmap for starting an investment journey with just $500 in 2026. He introduces his '80/20 str
Key takeaways
- The 80/20 rule suggests allocating 80% of capital to proven index funds and 20% to high-growth 'accelerators'.
- Foundational wealth can be built by optimizing recurring costs, such as switching to wholesale mobile carriers or shopping for better car insurance.
Main topics
- 80/20 Wealth Building Strategy
- S&P 500 Index Funds
Notable quotes
I teach principles, not picks.
Conclusion
The episode provides a disciplined, strategy-first approach to investi
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) There was a day where my bank account was negative $350. I was living in Jacksonville, Florida at the time. It wasn't low, y'all. It was negative. And nobody during that particular time was asking me that day what index fund to actually purchase because I wasn't a financial thought leader in that space. So if you click this because you've got a load of money set aside and no idea, and I mean this, no idea what to do with it, today's episode is going to be for you. Because what I've learned over my years of experience in this space is that most people watching this, and most people actually think, they need a large amount of money, $5,000, $10,000, $50,000, and even a six-figure salary before investing becomes a conversation for them, before investing becomes something they actually do and can benefit from. The amount... in my personal opinion, was never the thing stopping us. It's always been the strategy and the lack of strategy that was stopping us. So today's episode, I'm going to do something that most financial influencers and YouTubers and podcasters on this topic will not do. I'm not going to make you wait 20 minutes to answer the question. In the next three minutes, I'm going to tell you exactly what I would do with the first $500 that I had to invest. the split, and what I'll buy, and I'm going to name it out loud. Then I'm going to spend a little bit of time for the rest of this video showing you why and where the $500 should come from if you do not have it today. Whether September 2026 is a terrible time to start, we don't know. We're going to talk about it today. What it turns into 30 years, the $500, and the three ways I have watched people do all of this right. Watch this. Listen to me clearly. And they still Speaker 1 (1:55) end up with nothing. Speaker 2 (1:57) You all know that I had the extreme honor of teaching consumer economics at Virginia Union University, where I particularly graduated with my math, with my master's and my bachelor's. And now I'm finishing my doctorate degree in finance and investing at one of the best Christian universities, Regent University. And the book, the book I just published, Stop Living Page at a Paycheck. started as my doctoral research. So today is not just me just regurgitating something. No, today I'm going to give you some actual answers that I believe is important for us if you're going to start investing in 2026. So let's get to it. You got $500. Here's exactly if I was starting from scratch in 2026, what I would do with it today. 400 of it. goes into the S &P 500 index fund. The other 100 goes into something with more growth in it. That's the whole strategy for $500. We call this here, and I talk about this in my book, Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck, the 80-20, all right? The 80-20. Now, let me explain the $400 because if you've watched five videos on this and still weren't sure what anybody was actually telling you to buy, Let's be real. There's no shame in the game because nothing was explained. Nobody really explained it. And I wish when I had an extra $500 when I was 20 years old, somebody came out with the video. Do this with $500. And I want to pause right there because I want I want you to understand something. Speaker 2 (3:36) Some of you are watching this today and you don't have 500. You may have 100. I want you to apply the same math 80-20 to that 100. $80, buy a fractional share. $20, invest it into something else, right? So don't get discouraged if you don't have five. Speaker 2 (3:55) Listen to the principles, apply it wherever you are. All right. So the S &P 500 is a collection of the 500 largest, most profitable companies in America. We're talking about Apple, who just got a brand new CEO, Microsoft, who's one of the richest people in the world, Nvidia, Amazon, Google, you name it. The companies whose products are in your hand and in your house literally right now. So when you buy an S &P 500 index fund, you're buying a tiny piece of all 500 of them in one purchase. You don't have to pick the winner. You don't have to know which one is next. You own the whole thing. Remember that you own all 500, a piece of all 500 of the companies. And check this out. Speaker 2 (4:49) It has averaged about 10 % a year over the last several decades. When I say 10%, I'm talking about a 10 % return. The key word, though, is average. That did not happen every single year. Some years, it ran like at 20%. Some years, y'all, it fell to 4 % or 5%. So I'm talking about the average. All right? I want to make sure that's super clear. Now, I know some of y'all are saying, Anthony, give me the ticker symbol. I know you do. I know. I know. You want me to say the letters out loud so you can go type them in and be done with this. I get it. Trust me. I get it. But today's episode, I'm not going to do that. And I want to tell you why instead of dodging it. I teach principles, not picks. I'm going to say it one more time. I teach principles, strategies, not picks. The category is the answer. A low cost fund that tracks the S &P 500. Any major brokerage has one. Look at the expense ratio. Take the cheap one and get on with your life. I want to say this from the very, very beginning. A ticker doesn't survive contact with your actual situation. A principle does. You'll be making this decision again at 40. Watch this at 60 and at 70. And I'd rather you know how to make it than know what I bought. We have so many people online talking about, man, I bought this, I bought that, and I got this, and I got that, and I bumped that. Here at the table, I'm teaching principles and strategy. You take the principles and strategy, apply it to the level you're at right now, and then talk about what you're doing. Be proud about what you're doing with your income. That's the answer. $400 in the index fund, $100 in accelerator. 80 % in a index fund, 20 % in an accelerator. Speaker 2 (6:54) Now, let's be honest. You can go ahead and close the video right now. You can close today's episode right now and you'll be further ahead than you were four minutes ago. But if you do, you'll be one of the people I talk about towards the middle of this episode. The ones who did everything right and still ended up with nothing. Because knowing the answer has never been the hard part. Come on, think about it. We all know if you want to be wealthy, you got to invest into something. We all know that if you want to get to a destination, you need transportation. So we all know the answer for the most part, for the most part. So stay with me and I'm going to show you why that splits. where the money comes from, and what it's worth in 30 years. All right? Woo! All right. Let's have this conversation. I'm feeling good today, man. I wish I had my PowerPoints up, man. I mean, I feel real, real, real good today. So like I told you before, I call this the 80-20 wealth building strategy. And it's how you turn small money into big money without losing it on the way. How do we how do we gain money without losing a lot of money on the way? So 80 percent for me is into safe and proven and boring stuff. 20 percent is into higher growth and into I call it like an adrillion rush. Like you use that. Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. It's it's it's what I teach is not always sexy. It's not always fun. But it's the best strategy. I call it. It's the Tim Duncan play with a little bit of Allen Alverson. The 80 is your foundation. Money that tracks the overall market instead of betting on one single company. I'm going to tell you this right now. Index funds, mutual funds, ETFs, they're boring. They're not sexy. Nobody's posting screenshots about them. But here's the thing. They work. And that's the whole argument. Tim Duncan was kind of boring to watch. Tim Duncan, watch this, was not even the cleanest dresser. But he has more rings than LeBron James. Allen Iverson, Jalen Rose, and did I say his name right? Hopefully I did. They got crazy crossovers. They were dope to watch, but they have no rings. I want you to sit with that. Because it's the part that actually matters. It isn't attractive. It isn't fun. But watch this. It is effective. The strategy that builds wealth in this country is almost never the one that looks exciting from the outside. Speaker 1 (9:54) Check this out family. Did you know that nearly 4 Speaker 2 (9:57) in 10 Americans still have zero money invested in the stock market? That's a gap where wealth is built or missed. If you're just saving, you're falling behind because the markets average close to about a 10 % a year for a century, while your savings account is barely keeping up with inflation. I want to make this plain. If you wait just five years to start investing, you could lose out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in future wealth. That's not hype. That's real math. The wealthiest 10 % of Americans now own over 90 % of all stocks because they started and they stayed consistent. But here's the thing. You don't need to be rich to honestly get inside of the investing game. With platforms like SoFi Invest, Public, and Moomoo, you can open an account today, start with as little as a dollar, literally, and buy fractional shares of the same assets that have built generational wealth for millions. No commissions, 100 % no excuses on your end. Listen, I need you to hear me clearly. Stop sitting on the sidelines. Go to anthonyoneal.com forward slash invest right now to compare the top investing platforms and open your first investing account today. Your future self and your children's children will thank you for taking action right now. We have to start building wealth, not just watching others get rich. Do not let another year go by. As a matter of fact, don't let another day go by. Take the first step, family. Visit anthonyoneal.com forward slash invest. Let's get to work. Let's start investing ASAP. Let's get back to the show. Let's talk about the other 20. The 20 is your accelerator. It's a little more risk for the chance for more reward. A growth fund, maybe an individual company you actually understand and believe in. This is where you're allowed to have