3 Investing Tips by This Amateur
You’ll thank me later. Trust me.
I began my investing life two days before 2022 arrived.
I know I should have begun sooner, but I figured it's better late than never. So, I joined Robinhood on Dec. 30 and haven’t looked back.
So far, I’ve found some success with the investing platform. But there again, I’m only in the beginning stages.
I have a lot more to learn.
Nevertheless, I wanted to give you all some tips about investing from this amateur. So, whether you’re a rookie at the investing game or are curious what a rookie like me thinks about it, read on.
I think you’ll be glad you did.
1. Start Investing as Soon as You Can
A few of my friends have been investing in the stock market for a while now. I’m not sure why I didn’t jump on the bandwagon soon.
I don’t know what sparked inside of me to join, but I’m glad I did. My life has been different ever since.
It doesn’t matter if you’re thinking about investing or you don’t think it’s for you, you need to start doing it anyway. Investing is probably one of the best ways to better yourself in the long run.
I chose to invest with Robinhood because I knew they were a trusted name and I had known quite a bit about them. You could do the same or choose any investing app that’s right for you.
Like a lot of things with investing, everything is up to you.
Since I started investing a week ago, I’ve seen my money grow a little bit. There again, it’s only been a week.
I’m not getting my hopes up just yet.
But since starting to invest, I’m one step further along than all of those who haven’t started investing yet.
So, if I were you, I would begin soon. It’s always better late than never.
2. Invest in What You Like
When I was researching everything I could about investing, one piece of advice kept popping up.
“Invest in what you like.”
That’s easier said than done. But not necessarily. With Robinhood, you could invest in a fractional piece of stock in any company you enjoy and use often.
It’s one of the reasons why many folks love the platform.
So if you want to own a small piece of companies like Tesla and Facebook, you can! Instead of buying a full share, you buy a fractional one and still have some stock in the company.
How cool is that?
It’s something that many rookie investors are doing in the early stages. It’s not a terrible idea either.
For me, I couldn’t afford stock in the likes of Disney, Amazon, and McDonalds, so I bought the partial stock of each company through Robinhood.
I use each company quite often and it’s what I like. So, I invested in them at a small fraction.
It’s a rookie move, but it’s a small step in the right direction.
I plan to invest in more companies I like and use often. You should too.
3. You’re In It for the Long Haul
Don’t go into investing thinking you’ll become rich in a day. Those folks are called day traders, but that’s a whole other story for a different day.
Therefore, you should be investing for the long haul. How do you think the likes of Warren Buffett and Elon Musk continue to stay rich?
They invest for the long haul.
When you do this, you see your money grow over time. It won’t just happen in a day.
The stock market is always moving, and you never know what will happen. So, it’s best to be in it for the long haul.
Say one stock of yours is doing okay, then the company does something great, and the share rises and breaks the ceiling. You just won on your investment because you waited long enough for something good to happen.
So long as you’re patient, you can do well on the stock market. It’s something I’ve learned how to do too, and once you get the hang of it, your investing life will become much easier.
Closing Thoughts
I’ve never written about investing before, and hopefully, I did okay. I know I’m no expert, but I still want to do my part.
Nevertheless, if you take anything away from this rookie investor, it’s this:
- Start investing as soon as you can.
- Invest in what you like.
- You’re in it for the long haul.
I wish you all the best of luck in your investing endeavors!
Noah Nelson is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign majoring in journalism with minors in political science and history. He serves as a senior columnist for The Daily Illini, a writer on Medium, and the host of his blog called Nothing But Noah. “Life: A Collection of Short Stories” is his first book available now on Amazon. Like what you read? You can write for Medium too!