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When’s your birthday? What do you want? Ever considered some stocks? That new computer game or sneakers you want is guaranteed to be interesting for a while, but will you be interested in it in ten years? Or would you be more interested in lots of moula in ten years? Consider buying stock as a birthday present. Who knows? Your parents might even feel proud that they’ve raised a foresighted child!
There are three key elements in investing:
Since kids have time, one of the key element in investing, they have a distinct advantage over adults in the stock market. With time, kids can ride out ups and downs of the stock market in the short run, benefiting from stocks that outperform other investments such as bank deposits, CDs, bonds, and real estate in the long run.
"True, we have time, but where do we get the capital or seed money, another key element in investing?" You may think that you need to be a millionaire to invest in stocks. This is not true! There are ways that you can own stocks with as little as $10, although $20 is better.
Finally, the rate of return on investment in stocks can be amazing. If it comes down to a choice between buying a new pair of sneakers or a share of Nike stock, which costs about the same as the shoes, you should definitely buy the stock. Here is why. Adjusted for stock splits twice, a share of Nike sold for $18 in April 1995. About eighteen months later, the same share is worth over $62. How much is the same pair of worn sneakers worth in 1996?
Technically, only adults can buy stocks. The actual buying and selling of stocks is done by a broker at the stock exchange for a commission. The broker charges his customers a percentage of the purchase price or selling price.
In the Stock Learning Center, we will show you young investors how to invest in stock and how to get around conventional wisdom. In other words, you can still buy stock even though you are not an adult. You can own stock with little money and without a broker.
When you buy stock, you are buying a portion of a company. We will show you how to pick stocks, evaluate companies, and setup a paper portfolio to learn investing. We will also show you how to keep informed about news events affecting the economy and your investment companies.
Finally, we will show you how to own stock through some unconventional ways, i.e. buying and owning stocks with little money and without a broker.