As a 23-year old, who doesn’t have a stable income, investing in stocks seems like the worst thing I could possibly get into. I agree on a few levels, but I am fully aware of my financial state. Robinhood is a place for me to begin and really just allow myself to jump into the stock market game. The hardest part was getting started, the rest is just a learning experience and the best way to get experience is being consistent with the program! If you’re interested in testing out Robinhood you can click here to get a free stock!
I’m not sure if it’s because I now use Robinhood, but I see more negative news toward them like the bullet-proof windows they had to put up at their HQ or people taking out large amounts of loans to “hopefully” win big with Robinhood. Joining Robinhood should be a risk you’re willing to take and people need to understand that you could lose it all. Just like gambling in Vegas, don’t bet anything you’re not OK with losing!
If you’re in a similar situation like me, and you still want to see and understand more about stock trading, here is what I what I would ask myself;
Do I have a savings account?
For how long can I last, living off of my savings?
Do I have any sort of income?
What is my future career plan?
Will I be getting a job in the near future?
My solution would be, if you answered yes/have a plan for all the questions I just asked, and you have more than enough money to last you the amount of time you don’t have a stable income, a couple hundred dollars will not hurt you, if anything you are investing in a potential gain for your future which is very important in my opinion!
If you do not have any extra spending money, I would begin by analyzing your finances. I can go into further details on how to save in another post.
Since I did not have a stable income but I have enough savings, I decided I would invest in a small portion of my savings and I wouldn’t invest anymore money until I was back on my feet financially, even if that means not putting any more money into Robinhood for another year. This is my way of responsiby investing in my future with little risk but potential for rewards in return.
With the stocks I invested in, I get notifications from Robinhood when my stock price goes up and down and I keep a mental note about how much I bought the stocks for. If it ever rises or drops significantly, I open up the app and look into the stock more deeply. I look for news articles that could explain the reason behind why it changed or look at the pattern of the prices for the past week and current day.
As I already said in my One Month of Using Robinhood Post, patience is key and things don’t happen overnight. If you go into stock trading with the mindset that it’s “quick cash”, you will quickly realize it’s not what you think. I hope to save you from this disappointment as much as possible