As a high school student working a minimum wage job, you can build your money as the economy continues to grow. You can grow your money by investing in stocks.
Stocks are a form of security that gives stockholders a share of ownership in a company. Investing in stocks allows you to get paid daily (dividends).
Ask yourself if you want to invest in the stock market with individual stocks or index funds.
Individual stocks are for those who have the time to thoroughly research and evaluate stocks consistently. Index funds are when you invest in index funds, which track a stock index. Index funds have lower costs and are guaranteed to match long-term performance.
The first thing you need to do to invest in stocks is to open a brokerage account. A brokerage account is an “account that allows you to easily deposit money and buy and sell investments through a brokerage.” I’d recommend people to create an account through Fidelity or Charles Schwab because my mother’s patients had nothing but amazing things to say.
If you are under 18 years of age then you have to have to set up a custodial account with your parents until you turn 18 years old. The custodial account belongs to the underage child, but the parents manage the account.
Figure out what stock plan is best for you! There are a variety of stock plans to choose from.
Direct stock plans are when companies allow you to buy or sell their stock directly through them without using a broker. You save commissions but you must pay other fees including your transfer to a broker to sell them.
Dividend reinvestment plans are plans that allow you to buy more shares of a stock you already own by reinvesting dividend payments into the company. You may or may not be charged for service, so check with the company or your brokerage firm. Discount or full-service brokers are brokers buying and selling shares for customers for a fee. Stock funds are a mutual fund that invests primarily to buy stocks.
Choose the stocks you want to invest in. Invest in something that would make your investment worth it. For example, invest in something that had something to do with pharmaceuticals or something regarding technology. Either developing technology or entertainment sites like Hulu or Netflix.
Lastly, you track your stocks and observe how the value of your stocks grew with the economy! Yes, there may be times where you lose money due to stock market crashes, but overall, I do believe it’s worth it.
