Something I hear quite often from new investors is whether it is worth putting $500 into the share market.
My answer to them is that if they're going to do it on a semi-regular basis, then it certainly would be worth it.
Although it may not seem like a life-changing sum of money to invest, if you do it consistently you can generate material wealth.
For example, if you were to invest $500 every three months (a total of $2,000 a year) and earned a 9% per annum return, in 30 years your investments would be worth $300,000.
With that in mind, I have picked out three top ASX shares which I think would be great options for that first $500 investment. Here's why I would buy them:
ELMO Software Ltd (ASX: ELO)
The first ASX share to consider investing $500 into is ELMO Software. It provides a clever software platform which allows businesses to streamline a range of everyday processes. It has been growing at a strong rate over the last few years, leading to stellar recurring revenue growth. Pleasingly, this continued during the pandemic and is expected to continue in FY 2021. Management recently provided annual recurring revenue (ARR) guidance of $65 million to $70 million for the year ahead. This represents year on year growth of 18% to 27%. This is likely to be boosted further in the near future from acquisitions. ELMO had $140 million in cash at the end of FY 2020.
Nearmap Ltd (ASX: NEA)
Another ASX share to consider investing $500 into is Nearmap. It is a leading aerial imagery technology and location data company. I believe it could be a long term market beater thanks to the quality of its software and its strong position in the fragmented Australian and North American markets worth an estimated $2.9 billion per year. In addition to this, the company has the option to increase its addressable market by expanding into other geographies in the future.
Pushpay Holdings Group Ltd (ASX: PPH)
A final ASX share to consider investing $500 into is Pushpay. It is a leading donor management and community engagement platform provider for the faith sector. Due to the digitisation of the church and the shift to a cashless society, I believe Pushpay's platform is becoming indispensable to its users, positioning it perfectly for growth over the 2020s. This certainly will be the case in FY 2021. Management advised that it is on course to deliver EBITDAF of between US$48 million and US$52 million this year. This will be a 91.2% to 107% increase, respectively, year on year.
