Don't despair. We know of one fellow who turned a measly $220 investment in food-distribution giant Sysco into $57,000. Granted, it took him 27 years, but what an X! On average, he earned about 23 percent per year.

Back when he made that investment, he paid a very large commission, as brokers charged a lot at the time and they also charged more for trades involving fewer shares than a "round lot" of 100. Those large commissions tended to keep small investors, with only a few hundred dollars to invest at a time, locked out. After all, it doesn't make much sense to pay $100 or more to invest $500.

Today, though, many discount brokers such as TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, ShareBuilder or Scottrade will charge you less than $10 per trade and no longer charge extra for buying less than a round lot. It can cost the same, whether you buy 17 shares or 1,500.

Better still, maintenance fees for low-balance accounts are a thing of the past at many brokerages, and many have direct deposit plans, letting you plunk a portion of your paycheck directly into your account.

Learn what different brokers have to offer at tulsaworld.com/ foolbroker .

So forget the $10,000. Just $500 invested in tech company Research In Motion 10 years ago would be worth $7,450 today -- a beautiful annual return of 31 percent.

An investment in biotech enterprise Celgene would have become almost $13,000!

That's a road to riches -- starting with just a few hundred dollars and combining it with time.

Anyone can do that. Even if you've just retired, given the longer life expectancies today, it certainly can't hurt to start. In other words, get started .

Learn more at tulsaworld.com/foolinvest .

SUBHEAD: FOOL'S SCHOOL

Originally published by MOTLEY FOOL.

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