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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Investing |
Ummm... investing?? |
okay, i'm 13 years old... how old do i have to be to invest?? can i invest with an adult's supervision or what? and how much do i have to invest at the least...?? www.sharebuilder.com is a great way to start. Your parents can help and all can learn You can invest with as little as $50, but until you're 18 you'll definitely need an adult to "supervise" the account. Your parents may already have saving accounts in your name - ask them. Go to your local bank and ask about mutual funds - it's an easy way to invest. Basically the manager of the mutual fund picks a whole bunch of stocks to invest in, and your money buys you a small share of this fund (and in turn, a very small share of the stock of each of these companies). It's a lot safer than buying stock in just one company, because if that one company fails, you'll lose all your money - but it's unlikley like ALL those companies would do poorly. This strategy is called diversification. Try reading a copy of "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Investing" and just skim over the chapter about the different types of investing. It might be a little overwhelming at your age, but they have links to great websites for kids and teens. The most exciting part is learning about compound interest - it can make you a millionaire, and the younger you start, the better chance you have! I'm sure you want to jump right into the stock market and make a killing, but I would say, start by learning to LOOK for investment opportunities. This is an important life skill and crucial to investing. You don't want to throw your money at just anything. Investing comes in many various shapes and sizes: stock market, real estate, even savings accounts are investing. The key to investing is to find something that you can spend your money on that will make more money in the future and not LOSE it--This is often a mistake that first time investors make. So, try first to learn to count the cost of EVERYTHING involved in a purchase. Often there are hidden costs or ongoing costs that will eat your capital. Then try to find things around you that are in demand! If it is in demand people will pay more for it. The mantra of investing is BUY LOW, SELL HIGH. So I would say that someone would start with: $25 for a savings account $200 for CDs (Certificates of Deposit) $2000 for the stock market Also google "Risk Management". This has saved my tail and my wallet in the market. Good Luck! There's no set amount on how much you have to invest. You easiest way to invest would to be to open a savings account or money market account. You could also ask one of your parents to help you buy a saving bond. But if you want to invest in stocks, you'll probably need at least $500, and you'll need a parent to help you open an account with a stock broker. I found a good site where you can invest in the stock market without using real money, it's alot of fun and it's very educational about how the stock market works. http://www.investopedia.com check it out. Please read the book "Learn to Earn" by Peter Lynch - it was written for teenagers like you that want to learn about investing. |
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