The Young Person’s Guide to Investing
Investing doesn’t have to be that complicated.
But when you’re just starting out, it can be hard to knock it off your to-do list because you have so many competing demands — a budding career, rent and student debt, to name just a few. You also need at least some basic knowledge, which probably wasn’t covered in any of your classes in high school or college.
The good news: There are more attractive options for entry-level investors than ever before. Many mutual funds cost just fractions of pennies for every dollar you invest, and some firms are dangling them for free. Even getting advice from professionals is easier than it was for previous generations. And after you go through the motions once, you can set your plan on autopilot for a while.
This guide can help — consider it your road map to investing.
Before investing
There are a couple of items you want to deal with first: preparing for a financial emergency and creating a plan to attack any high-cost debt you might have.