If you are a beginner investor, it's important to find a reliable brokerage account such as Robinhood or M1 Finance in order to purchase fractional shares of companies you believe in. Your goal is to make a diversified portfolio when starting with smaller amounts of money to invest. Brokerages like Robinhood do not have any account minimums and they start you off with $225 in free stocks to get started. You can also check out real estate crowdfunding platforms like Arrived Homes to start building passive income investments.