The Beginner’s Guide to Simple Investing

You know you should be investing your money but where, how? Investing can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be.  We’ll help you get started.

Anyone can invest and everyone should.  We’ll walk you through the process so you can start making your money work for you.

Money sitting in your checking or savings account is losing you money because the crummy interest the bank pays is less than inflation.  You have to put that money where it can earn you something.  That’s why investing is so important.

 Betterment is very easy to use.  You slide the scale to the amount of risk you want, more stocks is riskier, more bonds is safer.  The fee is .35% which is pretty low.  There is no minimum investment but wait until you have $100 to start your account.

If you need the money in Betterment, you can pull it out and there is no fee. You can set an auto deposit so each month, the money will be invested.  You never have to think about it, Betterment handles everything for you.

If you’re a bit sophisticated and want to buy individual stocks that you’ve chosen, you can open a brokerage account.  Fidelity, E-Trade, and Sharebuilder are all examples of brokerage accounts.

If you have $1000 to start with, open a Vanguard Target Fund.  This fund balances your risk based on your preferred year of retirement. The closer you get to that date, the lower the risk balance on your investment.

For a lot of us, the real way to get rich is going to be through investing.  Most of us don’t have big inheritances to look forward to and are unlikely to win the lottery.  The earlier you start investing, the longer your money will have to grow.

Get over your fear and open an investment account today.

Show Notes

Andrew’s Betterment Experiment:  See how he’s doing.

Mint:  The easy way to track your spending.

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