My First Investment

Investments come in all shapes and sizes, you are never to young to invest. My first investment came in the form of a loan; I was about eight years old and my mom took me to Wendy’s to get a square hamburger on a round bun. We got up to the register, my mom reached for her wallet, and realized her purse was in the car. I just so happened to have a five dollar bill, she asked if she could borrow it. Naturally I responded with: “Only if you give me back five dollars and five cents when we get to the car”.

Well the five cents meant nothing, but my first investment meant everything. Small investments like that can be the catalyst for a lifetime of financial success. By no means am I a financial guru, but who says you have to be a guru to invest prosperously? I invite you to join me on my journey to investing success. On this site you will learn everything you could ever need to know about stocks, bonds, IRA’s, CD’s, and retirement investing.

Small Investments $0-$200

Like I said earlier; its the small investments that can make all the difference. Their is no minimum sum of money required for a first investment, strapped for cash? Here are a few ways to make small investments that will pay off big time down the road.

Before You “Invest” Take Care Of These Two Things First:

Build An Emergency Fund: Even if you are in you’re early twenties you need to have funds set away in case emergency strikes.Do this before you make your first investment. We recommend having three months living expenses put away, better safe than sorry, especially when you’re livelihood is on the line.

Pay Off High Interest Debt: Avoid credit card debt at all costs. If you have accrued debt, wether it be student loans, credit card debt, or whatever – pay off the high interest debt first

Now You Are Ready

DSP’s (Direct Stock Purchase Plans): Allow you to save money by bypassing stock brokers who charge commissions. With DSP’s you can buy shares, or fractions of shares, directly from the company as opposed to going through the broker.

Index fund: An index fund is a mutual fund whose assets are stocks on a given list. They can be a bit confusing to understand for a new investor, but they require little maintenance. Index funds usually return about 10% per year, Not a bad way to invest a couple hundred bucks

Commodities: This is a slightly unconventional investment but I like it. Commodities are things like oil, gold and silver; things people want and need. When the economy tanked a few years back the price of gold tripled, talk about a good investment. FYI: Beanie Babies and Pokemon Cards are not the type of commodity to invest in.

Savings Account: Investing in a savings account is kind of boring but not a bad place to start a first investment. With a savings account you are taking zero risk; but dont expect more than a 2% return. If you want to start a savings account I would recommend saving up as much as you can over a year long period; than take half and invest it elsewhere.

People make investing out to be much harder than it really is. Yes, making millions in the stock market requires a rare skill set and a lot of determination. But investing for the average citizen is an easy way to set yourself up down the road. Don’t let people trick you into just stockpiling your money; putting it in some sort of account is the way to go.

Do you guys and girls have any cool first investment” stories? Let us know in the comments. Feel free to reach out to us at any point through the or through Twitter.

Thanks for reading

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