Investing for the Clueless Beginner


Investing is Fun

In high school I had a finance class that had us play a stock market game. It was based on the real market and I did really well. In 3 months I had 5% growth. I love it when my money grows. In the real world, I didn't really know how I could start investing in these things. Enter Stash.

Stash

Stash is the easiest investment app I've found so far. Its clean and straight forward and allows you to invest in different mutual funds (mutual fund: a collection of stocks). Mutual funds are great because it allows you to diversify your portfolio (make sure all your eggs aren't in one basket). The stock market makes, on average, about 12% each year. That's 120x better than my savings account.

Stash details

Stash only allows investing in their mutual funds. If you want to get into the details and buy individual stocks, this isn't for you. My favorite mutual fund on there right now is called Blue Chips. It has been doing pretty well for me.
Stash charges $1 per month to manage your account. That is $12 per year, so in order to make money, you need to get over $100 in there by the end of the first year! You get your first month free though, so that helps!
You don't need to put all that in at once though. In fact, you get the first month free, and get an additional $5 for signing up with my link.
You can also set the app to do automatic investments. $5/ month adds up quickly. I love how easy it all is.
Another nice thing, if you download the app using my link, we both get $5!  http://get.stashinvest.com/lanceqedt3

Why invest?

Simple answer: compounding interest. Instead of giving a math lecture, here are some examples. 

Birthday money:
Say you get $20 for your 20th birthday. You invest that money and when you're 40 you have $1861.02. The money gets even better when you add more to it.

Weekly treat-yo-self:
I used to have an obsession with taco bell. The $5 box with the cheesy gordito crunch was my go to. If I had taken that money and invested my weekly taco bell money from the time I was 16 until I was 60, I would have $334,852, and now things are getting serious.

Disclaimer:
In any investment, there is risk. The stock market goes up and down. Recessions happen, and things like the great depression can happen. That being said, the market always bounces back, and the 12% average increase includes those periods. It's a long term investment. It has always bounced back, but if it doesn't, know that you are responsible to invest your money responsibly. That all being said, I'm using Stash. See if its right for you.

If you download the app using my link, we both get a bonus $5.
http://get.stashinvest.com/lanceqedt3

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