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system
is it wise to invest small amounts of money short-term?
user
this is slightly opinion based. is it appropriate to invest small amounts for short periods of time?  at your age and the time period, i would say no. this is because although the index fund do return 6-7% on average, there are several times it blips and goes negative as well. stock markets in short periods like 6 months can be unpredictable. at times a downturn will remain stagnant for periods of 2-3 years before suddenly zoom ahead. if you are not to particular about the time when you need the changes done; i.e. the changes can in worst case wait for few years; then yes investing in index fund would make sense.  else you are well off keeping this in savings. try cd's if they can offer better rates for such durations.
assistant