In recent years, fintech innovation has propelled the rise of investing platforms and apps that enable greater autonomy and smaller-dollar investment opportunities than traditional investment and wealth management services. While these innovations have allowed more people to invest, people living on low to moderate incomes (LMI) often remain underserved.

Commonwealth conducted consumer research to better understand what it would take for people living on lower incomes to invest—and how to support them when they do. Our preliminary research demonstrated that while these individuals may be small-dollar investors, they are an untapped audience that quickly warm to the idea of investing. While many of the people who participated in our research initially felt that investing wasn’t “for them,” their minds quickly changed as they did their own research and became engaged in the investing process.

Ultimately, investing is an opportunity for people living on LMI to build wealth. Investing tools and platforms, when designed with these users’ needs in mind, can serve this population by making investing more accessible. This report highlights our early insights, including several opportunities to innovate and improve these tools to better support new, small-dollar investors.