Something cool
I've been on a mini-crusade to start getting my friends to start thinking about saving and investing for the last year or so. It's important for people in their early 20's to start saving for retirement now because all that compounded interest adds up. You can spend more when you're in your 50's without worrying about having enoguh to retire on because you'll already have a great nest egg. So anyhow, consider this post part of that crusade.
Alright, so for the financially minded of you I found something really neat. I've been venturing further and further into the world of online banking and investing. It started with ING Direct (which everyone should really check out because it's a great deal, and if you want $25 bucks drop me a line and I'll refer you), and now I'm playing with this site called Sharebuilder.com. It's a great way to invest int he stock market without having to buy 100 shares at a clip. 100 shares is considered a standard trading block. Anything less, or for that matter anything that doesn't end in a 00 is considered an odd lot and becomes more expensive to buy because of brokerage fees. Obviously buying 100 shares of anything at once is a big hurdle for a lot of people. So sharebuilder sells odd lots and fractional shares. Instead of buying 100 shares, or for that matter 1 share of a company, you can buy a dollar amount, which could be 1/2 a share of 13 shares, or whatever. It's a great way to start investing. The only catch is that they only buy stock like this once a week, so your investment is subject to more market fluctuation than if you bought 100 shares ouright. This has a lot of pros and cons, but for people just starting out, the pros outweigh the cons by a lot.
Of course stock have risks, but if you invest for the long term those risks are minimized greatly, and the potential for growth is unequaled in any other mainstream investing. With interset rates where they are right now, it's the only way to get a significant return on an investment. So serisouly, go check them out.
Alright, so for the financially minded of you I found something really neat. I've been venturing further and further into the world of online banking and investing. It started with ING Direct (which everyone should really check out because it's a great deal, and if you want $25 bucks drop me a line and I'll refer you), and now I'm playing with this site called Sharebuilder.com. It's a great way to invest int he stock market without having to buy 100 shares at a clip. 100 shares is considered a standard trading block. Anything less, or for that matter anything that doesn't end in a 00 is considered an odd lot and becomes more expensive to buy because of brokerage fees. Obviously buying 100 shares of anything at once is a big hurdle for a lot of people. So sharebuilder sells odd lots and fractional shares. Instead of buying 100 shares, or for that matter 1 share of a company, you can buy a dollar amount, which could be 1/2 a share of 13 shares, or whatever. It's a great way to start investing. The only catch is that they only buy stock like this once a week, so your investment is subject to more market fluctuation than if you bought 100 shares ouright. This has a lot of pros and cons, but for people just starting out, the pros outweigh the cons by a lot.
Of course stock have risks, but if you invest for the long term those risks are minimized greatly, and the potential for growth is unequaled in any other mainstream investing. With interset rates where they are right now, it's the only way to get a significant return on an investment. So serisouly, go check them out.