this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2024
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Tbh it's not very hard, just get a brokerage account with someone like fidelity or even Robinhood. As far as picking stock, there's no correct way that's applicable to everyone. Oftentimes people who obsess over crunching numbers and doing lots of research, will rarely make more than if they just bought index funds.
Long-term investments are a lot more about how much and how long you can invest, vs what you invest in. In general, I tend to buy stock in companies who I believe to be undervalued, particularly if it's been devalued in reaction to the media and not something like a bad quarterly.
I'm pretty sure like 95% of people who are paid to beat the market perform worse than index funds over any period greater than 5 years. I'm procrastinating at work so I'm going to be one of those annoying people that tell you to go research it yourself, but ya. From everything I've heard essentially nobody beats the market over long periods of time, it's a losing battle. Just buy index funds and wait.
It's boring but it's the smartest thing to do.
Not too crazy to imagine, especially with how the markets have been behaving recently. Index funds have been having crazy returns the last year or so.
For example Boeing. But if you get a brokerage account and they recommend stuff but they are your age or younger, you should definitely listen with a grain of salt. I lost a good 5 years of income listening to the guy from fidelity. "It's definitely time to invest!" In my head I was like 'no way'. But they got my wife to convince me. And sure enough the money was gone in Just a few short months. But then we started to do our own investigation to see if theirs matched ours. Don't do your own research thinking you'll beat them, do it to get educated in your investments and to compare...if they seem to be way off, it could be either a great opportunity they know about and you don't (insider trading lol) or it's probably pure bullshit. I would say most of time it's bullshit. How to they make money? Off your losses! Indirectly ofcourse, otherwise it would be robbery.
Yeah, never give anyone the ability to completely manage your brokerage account. Most investment brokers are just gambling addicts that get to spend other people's money. If they are telling you they can get you returns much greater than index funds or a decent ETF.....they aren't telling you of the potential risk.
My advise to younger people is just to take advantage of any tax mitigation like a IRA or 401k, invest in index funds, and most importantly ......don't look at it too much.
People tend to panic when they see a long term investment dip below their original purchasing price, but it's important to realize that losses aren't realized until you sell. The market will fluctuate, but the likelihood of a company recovering at some point in the next 20 years is pretty high. Just be patient and don't buy overspeculated stock.