While you can technically invest any amount of money, many people only seriously consider investing their money when they have at least a thousand to spare.

If you've hit that 1k benchmark, you invest wisely and have some patience; you can grow your thousand into another thousand and beyond. Here are our top five suggestions for investing a thousand dollars.

Open a Savings Account

If $1000 is still a pretty significant chunk of money for you that you'll need to access quickly and easily in the future, a savings account is a safe, reliable investment option. You can open a savings account at a traditional brick and mortar bank, but an FDIC insured online savings account will offer you better interest rates in most cases. Citizens access offers a 2.35% and is a great place to start.

Buy an Exchange-Traded Fund

An ETF is a marketable security that tracks a stock index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of assets. Bought and sold on public exchanges, the money you make from ETF's are typically taxed significantly less than other investors are for their capital gains. If you invest in a passive ETF, you also can probably avoid the high administrative fees and management costs that come with mutual funds.

Let Robots Invest For You

Robo-advisors operate much like human advisors, for a fraction of the cost. They take some of the best investing strategies and use artificial intelligence to implement them, giving you an actively managed investment portfolio with very little work on your end. The two most popular robo investor options are Betterment and M1 Finance.

Get a Certificate of Deposit

A certificate of deposit operates as a high yield savings account. This is another very safe option, as you'll know your money is safe and secure and FDIC insured as you get some pretty decent returns. The important difference between this and a regular savings account is that you won't have easy, quick access to your money, but if you're willing to be patient, this can be a great option.

Invest in Bonds

While investing in bonds alone won't give you huge returns, they're a great option for diversifying your portfolio. There are lots of options for people who aren't up for high risk, such as Treasury bonds, savings bonds, and floating-rate notes (FRNs). The good news is $1000 goes a long way in bond investments.

Peer to Peer Lending

If you aren't familiar with the concept, peer to peer lending is best explained as crowdfunding a loan and then benefitting from the interest (along with all the other people who invested). This is easier than ever with services like Lending Club, where you can easily diversify your investments and gain higher interest on higher risk borrowers, reducing your own financial risk.