Should I invest in the market?

Question

I have exactly $500 to invest. I will be contributing at least 100 a month. Is this reasonable? I'm incoming high school senior.

Answer 1

Having the discipline to contribute anything (even $10) on a regular basis shows you are way ahead the curve as far as the thought process required to let your money make money.

Unless, you have the expertise, exposure, and knowledge of stock analysts and asset managers, I would walk into your local bank and start asking about certificates of deposit and money market funds.

Once you have a significant amount you can talk to someone about opening a portfolio of growth stocks and funds.

But, do not take a single stock recommendation from a pedestrian chat board (like Yahoo Answers) and run with it.

If people really had the the golden goose, do you think they would be giving the eggs away for free here?

Go talk to a professional... and in the mean time do some healthy research on your own.

Good luck !

Answer 2

Absolutely.

There will be many ups and downs, but at your age, it is always good to begin to invest

Open an account with e-trade, and buy stock in a company that you like to do business with.

Deposit what you can weekly, and whenever you have $500, buy stock in another company

Answer 3

Invest in a mutual fund. Those guys love when you invest equal payments monthly.

http://hubpages.com/hub/Mutual-Funds

Call any financial adviser. Seeing as you are interested from a young age, they will gladly take you aboard.  

Answer 4

yes. that way you would have a better future for you and your family when ever you start one.

Answer 5

Without having more information about your personal information, such as age, current income and other data such as risk tolerance, martial status, and demographics it would be very inappropriate for me or any other responsible person to provide specific investment information in this type of media

There are many people just like you that are, or were looking to invest and those that did bought Mutual Funds and/or Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).  One purpose of mutual funds is to help investors like you, who are either just entering the investment world or who have no investing experience.  Once you feel you at least have an understanding of investments you should look into ETFs which are similar to mutual funds but are traded on the exchanges.

Mutual Fund companies as well as ETFs have an entire array of products many will fit your needs. You can go to the MSN.Money website

http://moneycentral.msn.com/home.asp  it has an entire section on mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds.  Read about the various products and in doing so you will be getting investment ideas and at the same time educating yourself about investing.

You could also contact the funds companies for more information.  I have found that Vanguard & Fidelity can meet your needs for mutual funds.  The service and information they provide is all free and you will find it helpful.

Regardless of what you decide, do not ever let anyone tell you not to invest, especially those that do not invest themselves

Answer 6

$500 is more than enough to start investing.  However, before jumping into the market, you should make sure that you know what you are doing.  Read some investing books and look up some online tutorials.  My favorite web resource is Investopedia ( http://www.investopedia.com/ ).  It's a great website to learn about the stock market and investing in general.

When you are ready to start investing, you will need to open a brokerage account.  You must be at least 18 to open an individual account.  Otherwise, you will have to open a custodial account have it cosigned by a parent.  Since you do not have a lot of money, I would recommend that you use an online discount broker because they are cheaper than full service ones.  Plus, everything can be conveniently done online as opposed to in person.

I currently use Firstrade ( http://www.firstrade.com/ ) and I have been very happy with them. They are cheaper than big name brokers such as Etrade, Scottrade, Ameritrade, and Schwab. Their website is very easy to use, making them perfect for beginners. I've used them for quite awhile now and I would definitely recommend you to check them out.