5 answers
Israel
Student
San Luis, Arizona
1
Question
Asked
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How can you invest?
How can a teenager like me get my first thousand dollars and invest them for more money and how many ways is there to invest your money? What's the easiest way ?
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5 answers
Nathan White
business analyst
20
Answers
Newark, Delaware
Updated
Nathan’s Answer
The easiest way to get involved in the equity market is opening an account with WeBull, where you get fractional shares, just for opening an account with them. I agree with what Vamshee said and also would add a high yield online savings account, which in the US, have decent rates now compared to the past 5 years.
Aaron Escamilla
Mining Technology Developer
62
Answers
Gilbert, Arizona
Updated
Aaron’s Answer
Making your first thousand will come by finding any job and budgeting correctly. Save a certain amount per paycheck. As far as investing:
Easiest way? This is tough. Anyone can invest in a variety of ways without much effort but it's all about managing risk.
What platform/app to use? Some free apps to get started without having to pay a lot are (Robinhood, ThinkorSwim, Tastytrade, etc). While you save money you can practice with a "paper trading" account which means you trade fake money on the real market data. ThinkorSwim has an option to just do fake money and they give you 100K to practice with and if you lost all the fake money you can reset your account. Robinhood is great for starters because you can by fractions of stocks so even if you only have $20 right now you can start buying and selling stocks. Start reading the news about companies that interest you and start tracking them. You'll start to get a good gut feeling about the companies you follow.
What types of investments? So here's a short list (I've simplified language for you):
1) Traditional stock trading - This can be done on almost any app (Robinhood, etc) You buy a stock...if it goes up or down a certain amount then you sell. For such a small account you shouldn't be buying or selling the same stock in the same day. You'll be dinged as a "day trader" and the IRS will tax you accordingly. I own stocks in my older account. Note that gains (capital gains) stocks you only own for a short term get taxed at a less favorable rate than stocks that are held for a year or longer. You can buy stocks of companies or ETFs on lots of free platforms. ETFs are essentially managed by some account manager who buys large amounts of stocks (apple, microsoft, etc) and then when you buy a share of an ETF you are buying into that stockpile of stocks and if the overall ETF account goes up then your share goes up, etc. VGT is an example of an ETF (Vanguard Technology ETF)
2)Options - Options are considered higher risk mostly because it requires more management and math on your part. People will say there's "infinite loss" involved with options if you do it wrong. This is true and not true. You can learn about things like "covered calls" "butterfly", "Strat" (youtube Sarah Strat Sniper), "Straddles", "Strangles", etc. The list goes on. You can find ways of making all of these a secure trade to avoid infinite loss but you need to do your math. Lots of traders specialize in just one or two of these types of trades. They make a goal to make 0.5-1% a day which could be $50 a day for example and then call it a day. You have to be emotionally prepared to not get a gambling mentality and start trying to make $200 a day if your account just isn't big enough. You also need to set a point where you just stop trading for the day. Let's say if you lose $50 then you just stop for the day and wait until the next day, etc.
3) Bonds - passive income/long term. You can consider these as a I.O.U (I Owe You) that will almost most definitely be paid out at an agreed upon fixed rate (there are some non-fixed rate bonds out there) and lots of places you can acquire bonds. You let your bond "mature" or expire and you get the payout.
4)Futures - These are agreements to buy or sell something at a predetermined price in the future. Account managers use these to secure their accounts (hedge against the future, etc) . Once again, like options, you got to do your math. Futures are a "zero-sum" so someone loses and someone wins.
I hope that gives you some stuff to research. Just start watching and reading. Do a papertrade account and if you do want to start trading tomorrow then start small on a free stock app somewhere.
Read "Intelligent investor"
Watch youtube videos (i.e. Sarah Strat Sniper)
Open a free paper trading account (thinkorswim) and practice options, futures, etc with fake money
Open a free account with an app that lets your trade small money accounts (i.e. Robinhood, etc)
Easiest way? This is tough. Anyone can invest in a variety of ways without much effort but it's all about managing risk.
What platform/app to use? Some free apps to get started without having to pay a lot are (Robinhood, ThinkorSwim, Tastytrade, etc). While you save money you can practice with a "paper trading" account which means you trade fake money on the real market data. ThinkorSwim has an option to just do fake money and they give you 100K to practice with and if you lost all the fake money you can reset your account. Robinhood is great for starters because you can by fractions of stocks so even if you only have $20 right now you can start buying and selling stocks. Start reading the news about companies that interest you and start tracking them. You'll start to get a good gut feeling about the companies you follow.
What types of investments? So here's a short list (I've simplified language for you):
1) Traditional stock trading - This can be done on almost any app (Robinhood, etc) You buy a stock...if it goes up or down a certain amount then you sell. For such a small account you shouldn't be buying or selling the same stock in the same day. You'll be dinged as a "day trader" and the IRS will tax you accordingly. I own stocks in my older account. Note that gains (capital gains) stocks you only own for a short term get taxed at a less favorable rate than stocks that are held for a year or longer. You can buy stocks of companies or ETFs on lots of free platforms. ETFs are essentially managed by some account manager who buys large amounts of stocks (apple, microsoft, etc) and then when you buy a share of an ETF you are buying into that stockpile of stocks and if the overall ETF account goes up then your share goes up, etc. VGT is an example of an ETF (Vanguard Technology ETF)
2)Options - Options are considered higher risk mostly because it requires more management and math on your part. People will say there's "infinite loss" involved with options if you do it wrong. This is true and not true. You can learn about things like "covered calls" "butterfly", "Strat" (youtube Sarah Strat Sniper), "Straddles", "Strangles", etc. The list goes on. You can find ways of making all of these a secure trade to avoid infinite loss but you need to do your math. Lots of traders specialize in just one or two of these types of trades. They make a goal to make 0.5-1% a day which could be $50 a day for example and then call it a day. You have to be emotionally prepared to not get a gambling mentality and start trying to make $200 a day if your account just isn't big enough. You also need to set a point where you just stop trading for the day. Let's say if you lose $50 then you just stop for the day and wait until the next day, etc.
3) Bonds - passive income/long term. You can consider these as a I.O.U (I Owe You) that will almost most definitely be paid out at an agreed upon fixed rate (there are some non-fixed rate bonds out there) and lots of places you can acquire bonds. You let your bond "mature" or expire and you get the payout.
4)Futures - These are agreements to buy or sell something at a predetermined price in the future. Account managers use these to secure their accounts (hedge against the future, etc) . Once again, like options, you got to do your math. Futures are a "zero-sum" so someone loses and someone wins.
I hope that gives you some stuff to research. Just start watching and reading. Do a papertrade account and if you do want to start trading tomorrow then start small on a free stock app somewhere.
Aaron recommends the following next steps:
Vamshee Gunturu
Principal Engineer
187
Answers
Chandler, Arizona
Updated
Vamshee’s Answer
These are some jobs to consider for your first job to make some money for yourself.
Tutor
Retail store rep
Volunteer
Cashier
Paper Delivery
Landscaping
Baby Sitting
Dog walker
Delivery Driver
Grocery store associate
Lifeguard (Summer job)
Swim Instructor (Summer job)
Camp Counselor (Summer job)
Find your interests and preferences first, then you shortlist the target job/employers to apply for jobs.
My son interested in serving community, volunteering ...he chose to work at Goodwill for his first job, then he took up a tutor job next.
how many ways is there to invest your money? What's the easiest way?
There are lot of types to invest your money, one has to consider risk vs reward in investing.
Investing in stocks is easiest way to make or lose money. So one has to learn how to invest, what is the risk level? How to preserve the invested capital. etc. I suggest students learn how to manage finances and how to invest during their college and start investing slowly with diversifying the investments.
Savings Accounts and CDs preserve capital with providing interest on the principal.
The following article is some thing you can read to begin with.
https://www.bankrate.com/investing/best-ways-to-invest-for-college-students/
https://www.investopedia.com/guide-to-financial-literacy-4800530
Hope this helps!
Tutor
Retail store rep
Volunteer
Cashier
Paper Delivery
Landscaping
Baby Sitting
Dog walker
Delivery Driver
Grocery store associate
Lifeguard (Summer job)
Swim Instructor (Summer job)
Camp Counselor (Summer job)
Find your interests and preferences first, then you shortlist the target job/employers to apply for jobs.
My son interested in serving community, volunteering ...he chose to work at Goodwill for his first job, then he took up a tutor job next.
how many ways is there to invest your money? What's the easiest way?
There are lot of types to invest your money, one has to consider risk vs reward in investing.
Investing in stocks is easiest way to make or lose money. So one has to learn how to invest, what is the risk level? How to preserve the invested capital. etc. I suggest students learn how to manage finances and how to invest during their college and start investing slowly with diversifying the investments.
Savings Accounts and CDs preserve capital with providing interest on the principal.
The following article is some thing you can read to begin with.
https://www.bankrate.com/investing/best-ways-to-invest-for-college-students/
https://www.investopedia.com/guide-to-financial-literacy-4800530
Hope this helps!
Kelli Wallace
Workplace Experience Specialist
5
Answers
Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Kelli’s Answer
Right now, the best investment you can make is in yourself and your education. Make sure you have enough saved for any future education you plan to pursue. Once you have that secure, you can start thinking of investing.
Jenny Weaver
Community outreach
5
Answers
Phoenix, Arizona
Updated
Jenny’s Answer
Good for you for being interested in investing! That's critically important to your future.
I agree with Aaron and Nathan's sentiments to make sure you have a savings set aside for emergencies before you invest in other more long-term options. A savings account is a good first step, and very secure and low-risk and right now yields a great return.
There are other options to explore, and your bank where you keep your savings will have some advice on other investment opportunities as your money grows.
I agree with Aaron and Nathan's sentiments to make sure you have a savings set aside for emergencies before you invest in other more long-term options. A savings account is a good first step, and very secure and low-risk and right now yields a great return.
There are other options to explore, and your bank where you keep your savings will have some advice on other investment opportunities as your money grows.