The question shows up constantly in investing forums, Reddit threads, and first-timer groups: how much do I actually need to get started? Most beginner investing articles assume $1,000. A few go as low as $500. Almost none address what someone with $10 or $25 should do, which is where a lot of people actually are.
The minimum to buy an ETF at most major brokerages is now $1. Not $1,000. Not $100. One dollar, for a fractional slice of a fund holding thousands of companies. That changed about five years ago, and most people still haven't caught up.
At Fidelity and Robinhood, you can buy fractional shares of most ETFs (including VTI and VOO) for as little as $1. Schwab's minimum is $5. Vanguard allows $1 for its own ETFs only. In all cases, you receive a real proportional slice of the fund: same index, same 0.03% expense ratio, same dividends.
What Fractional Shares Actually Mean
Before fractional shares, buying an ETF meant buying whole shares. One share of VTI costs roughly $270 today. One share of VOO runs about $545. If you had $200, you couldn't buy either. You'd have to wait, save more, or settle for something cheaper that might not be what you actually wanted.
Fractional shares flipped that. Instead of placing a share-based order ("buy 2 shares"), you place a dollar-based order ("buy $25 worth"). The brokerage handles the math and credits you with 0.092 shares or whatever the proportional amount is. You own a real piece of the fund. It earns dividends, tracks the index, carries the same expense ratio. Nothing is watered down.
The technical execution varies slightly by platform. Some brokerages pool fractional share orders and execute them during market hours. Some process them at market close. The end result is the same: you get in at a price close to the current market price, proportional to what you put in.
How Each Major Brokerage Actually Handles It
Not all fractional share programs work the same way. The minimum investment and the eligible ETF universe vary by platform. Here's the breakdown for ETF investors specifically.
| Brokerage | Fractional ETFs? | Minimum | ETF Universe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fidelity | ✓ Yes | $1 | Stocks + most ETFs, very broad |
| Schwab | ✓ Yes | $5 | Stocks + ETFs, broad selection |
| Vanguard | ✓ Yes* | $1 | Vanguard-branded ETFs only (VTI, VOO, BND, etc.) |
| Robinhood | ✓ Yes | $1 | Stocks + most ETFs |
| IBKR | ✓ Yes | $1 | Wide universe, stocks + ETFs |
*Vanguard's $1 minimum applies only to Vanguard-branded ETFs. Non-Vanguard ETFs at Vanguard still require a full share purchase. Programs and minimums may change. Verify current details on each brokerage's website before opening an account.
Fidelity: the broadest access for ETF investors
For someone whose goal is to buy a specific ETF (VTI, VOO, QQQ, AGG, doesn't matter), Fidelity has the widest net. The $1 minimum applies across a large eligible universe of ETFs, not just Fidelity's own products. No account minimum, no commission on ETF trades, fractional shares available from day one.
Schwab: $5 minimum, still very accessible
Schwab's fractional share program covers stocks and ETFs with a $5 minimum. In practice, the extra $4 over Fidelity's floor is irrelevant. Someone asking "can I start with $10?" isn't going to be stopped by needing $5 instead of $1. Schwab is a well-run platform with strong research tools and no account minimum. The $5 threshold is not a real barrier.
Vanguard: $1, but only for Vanguard funds
This is the important distinction. Vanguard's dollar-based trading program covers Vanguard ETFs: VTI, VOO, BND, VXUS, and others in their lineup. If you want VTI and you're comfortable at Vanguard, $1 works. If you want something Vanguard doesn't issue (QQQ, for example, which is iShares) you'd need a full share at Vanguard's platform. For someone starting with VTI or VOO specifically, this doesn't matter.
Robinhood: works, with tradeoffs
Robinhood supports fractional shares with a $1 minimum and a wide ETF universe. The platform has improved significantly from its early days. The practical limitation for long-term ETF investors is account type selection. Robinhood's Roth IRA, for instance, has fewer features than what Fidelity or Schwab offer. For pure ETF buying with a small starting amount, Robinhood works. For someone building a complete retirement account setup, Fidelity or Schwab is the more complete platform.
Fidelity is the practical winner for most people asking this question. $1 minimum, broad ETF universe, Roth IRA available, no commissions, no account minimum. None of that is a knock on Schwab or Vanguard. They're both solid. But if someone asks "where should I open my first account so I can start with whatever I have," Fidelity is the straightforward answer. Your own situation may point elsewhere.
What $1, $10, and $25 Actually Buy You
The numbers feel small. They're not as small as they look.
The pattern is the same regardless of the starting amount: the initial deposit is almost irrelevant compared to the monthly contribution that follows it. What the fractional share minimum did was remove "I don't have enough yet" as a reason to delay, because now there is no minimum that most people can't meet.
What Doesn't Change When You Start Small
Fractional shares are sometimes misunderstood as a different or lesser product. They're not. When you buy $10 of VTI at Fidelity, you receive a fractional position in the exact same fund as someone who bought 50 full shares. The expense ratio is 0.03% on your balance, which on $10 is $0.003 per year. The diversification is identical: your $10 is spread across 3,600 companies in the same proportions as every other VTI holder.
Dividends work the same way. VTI distributes dividends quarterly. Your fractional position earns a proportional share of those distributions, credited to your account automatically. You're not getting a different dividend yield or a reduced one. You're getting exactly what your ownership proportion entitles you to.
Some platforms that offer fractional trading are not giving you actual ownership of the underlying shares. They're giving you a contract-for-difference or a synthetic exposure product. At Fidelity, Schwab, and Vanguard, fractional ETF shares are real fractional ownership of the fund. Know the difference before using any platform.
Fractional shares work in both taxable brokerage accounts and tax-advantaged accounts (Roth IRA, Traditional IRA). For most people just starting out with small amounts, a Roth IRA is worth considering first. Growth inside a Roth IRA is tax-free, and the annual contribution limit ($7,000 in 2026 for most people under 50) is high enough that a $25 starting contribution won't come close to maxing it. Your own income and tax situation affect which account type makes sense. Worth a quick read on the IRS rules before deciding.
The Only Minimum That Actually Matters
The dollar threshold to get started ($1, $5, $25) is no longer the relevant constraint. What determines outcomes from here is not the starting amount but the habit that follows it.
A $10 investment that turns into a $50/month recurring contribution is worth far more than a $1,000 lump sum that sits idle. At 8% average annual return, $50/month for 30 years grows to about $75,000 regardless of whether it started from $10 or $1,000. The fractional share minimum removed a reason to delay. It didn't remove the requirement to actually invest.
The expense ratio on the fund you choose matters more than the starting amount. On a small balance, 0.03% vs. 0.50% is barely measurable in dollars. Over 30 years with consistent contributions, the same fee gap that costs $203,000 on a $1,000/month contribution scales proportionally down to your balance. The direction is always the same. Start cheap, stay cheap, add regularly.
The ETF basics guide covers which fund, which account type, and what the compounding math actually looks like.
Make them these:
- The minimum to buy ETFs at most major brokerages is $1 (Fidelity, Robinhood) or $5 (Schwab). No account minimum. No commission. You can start today with whatever you have.
- Fractional shares are real ownership: same fund, same expense ratio, same dividends. Not a synthetic product, not a lesser version. A proportional slice of the actual ETF.
- The starting amount is the least important variable. The monthly contribution habit that follows it is what compounds into something real.