to clarify my original post. i opened a separate account for my wife also. so we wach have an account on our own and both we've started out with approximately $150 and will contribute about $50/mo into each account. it sounds like that we will have to wait until we have at least $1000 before we can truly invest into anything right now. it may take us a year or more before we get to that point. the onyl reason we started out with such a low amount is because of other expenses we have to pay (i.e. med school loans, saving for a home, etc.) and that's the only amount we can invest right now.

do i have to wait until i have $1000 or more to invest? i was looking into something i can invest now altho the amount is not as much. i would rather invest a little now instead of waiting until i have more to invest. i don't want to wait - it took me this long to open one so now i want to start. is that possible? for example, to buy a few shares of some market fund or index now and as i contribute more - buy more shares later? bottom line, i just want to know if i can buy some shares now or is it in my best interest to wait until i have more to buy shares?

thanks,
hep1974