Dipping my Toes

[AciesEdge]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time here, and I'm very new to investing in terms of stock, however I have been quite interested in the whole dynamics of it all for quite a long time.

I've been looking into investing in stocks, but being new to this, as well as having somewhat limited capital as a 19 year old university student, I was hoping for some advice for someone who is looking to start out.

I've been told many times to start investing when young, and so, I have got most of my money from scholarships and such in a savings account with a decent amount of interest of 4.01% pa.

On top of this, I'd like to purchase some stocks to invest in the long run also, but I'm not sure how much to invest in order to make it worth the risk.

Would around $500 be an okay starting investment for someone around my age looking to dip his toes into the water? I'd probably be investing in WES, WOW and possibly BHP, although I still need to do some more research.

The stock market seems to have a steep learning curve for someone new, but I'm determined to try my hand at it.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[darkhorse70]

Welcome to ASF dude. Im only 21 and cant offer you much advice as I to am in your same situation and have only been studying the stock markets for 7months. However i got kicked out of uni this year haha. Anyway my personal opinion is first to learn as much as you can about the stock markets and how they work. If you want to be an investor I guess your going to have to evaluate the future prospects of the company, be able to understand the basic fundamentals of financial statements etc. It's a little different to trading which is mostly based on volatility and more frequent purchases and sales of stock. Anyhow personally $500 seems to little. Just to purchase a stock is going to set you back $20. The sale is also going to be another $20. So your basically down 40 dollars before you even begin which works out to be around 8% or so. So your going to have to cover that before you can even make any money. Lets say your lucky and you choose a stock that doubles in value in a few years, maybe 1 if your super lucky. You've managed to make 500 bucks for your hard effort. If investing 500 is going to get you more motivated to trade then go for it. But in terms of investing that amount I woudn't be bothered. You can always go on simulators and invest in their and get a better understanding of the markets with more capital (play money only). They say if you want to trade (different to investing) you need around 20-30k just so the commissions and slippage dont kill you and so you can still have some sort of diversification. Anyway dude gd luck and im no expert im sure others on this forum will have a better answer for you.

 

[burglar]

Welcome to ASF ... others on this forum will have a better answer for you.

So much already written here.
My advice is use the search facility.