The best time to start investing is early. Even if you just turned 18, start putting your money to work for you today! Lets say you work as a waitress 6 nights a week. You make $50 in tips a night, that’s $300 a week, and $1200 a month. You could most likely afford to invest $50 a month. If you don’t think you can then it’s time to take a look at your budget. Budget Planning
Pay attention to where your money is going. If you pick up a coffee or soda at a convince store everyday for $1.50 that’s $42 a month! You could save most of that money by simply purchasing your soda in larger packs at a discount store or brewing your own coffee at home.
Take a look at the table on this page to see what only $50 invested regularly can do for you in the long run Investing
I believe that most of the time it’s a youthful sense of security that keeps young adults from planning their financial lives. At 20, for some reason we all believe that we’ll be rich in 5 years, right after college we’ll have high paying dreams jobs, huge homes and expensive cars. For most of us this is not true. It’s important to realize this and start planning your future with that in mind.
Take advantage of the resources available to you, with the internet you can learn everything you need to know about investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ect. Check out online brokerages such as share builder.com, this is the online brokerage that I like to use, there are plenty more out there for you to find. Sign up for a free account at share builder to determine your risk profile. Do research on potential investments and build your portfolio. If you’re young you can afford greater risk and higher potential earnings, as opposed to if you are nearing retirement. Interested in learning more about investing? Visit The Motley Fool , they offer tons of great information and can teach you everything you need to know about investing. I started learning about investing with the motley fool, I highly recommend that the novice start here. You can start learning the basics of investing in a way that is enjoyable to read and easy to understand It’s all free information so you’ve got nothing to loose. Another option is to take a beginners investment course at your school, if you attending or try a night class at a local community college. Invest in yourself, get the information you need to become a knowledgeable investor, it’s a choice you’ll never regret-who knows, you might even be able to retire at 30!