Investing can be scary. When you are new to the concept you don’t always know what it is you are doing or how it is you should begin. Stocks? Mutual funds? Index funds? 401ks? IRAs? Know where to put your money, in what amount and how often is a source of anxiety for young people in particular. But investing for life’s many changes, from buying a home to children’s college funds to retirement, is crucial.
The internet is a valuable tool for learning how to invest at every level, from beginner portfolios to diversifying well established ones. Here are some tools to help you learn and invest with confidence.
Investing Resources
- Investopedia – Investopedia is a reference site that operates like Wikipedia, only for all things investment related. If you are looking for information on specific investment strategies and a good overview of financial matters, it is a fantastic place to go looking.
- Reddit – Reddit has an endless list of subreddits dedicated to all aspects of making, spending and growing money. You can find incredible information and speak to both professional advisors and people who have been doing their own investing and can give you pointers based on what worked for them. Subreddits r/investing and r/stocks are very popular and related directly to investments. For broader information such as budgeting, paying down debt, growing money, paying for college, saving and more, check out r/personalfinance.
- Motley Fool – Want to know the latest news on the market? Then check out Motley Fool, an awesome blog with posts that cover every element of the financial sector and personal financial matters. They also have an active community where you can discuss things with others who are making their money work for them.
Investment Tools
- Coin Flare – The cryptocurrency market is notoriously volatile and many investors don’t want to risk it. But if you want to learn more about it and invest in some crypto before the next surge, Coinbase a great website and app to use.
- TDAmeritrade – One of the better known investment brokerage dashboards on the web, TDAmeritrade allows you to open various types of accounts based on goals and fund them as you like, with recommendations customized to your settings. The fees are relatively low and it is an easy way to start taking your finances in hand to secure your financial future.
- Betterment – Betterment is popular because it builds a portfolio for you and manages it in the most tax-efficient way. All investments go into two possible areas, or a combination of both: stocks and government bonds. They handle financial planning, retirement investing, trusts and more. All fees are based on percentages annually, taken from your current portfolio worth. Their digital portfolios ($0 minimum balance) are .25% and premium ($100,000 minimum) is .40%.
- Acorns – Don’t want to worry about selecting stocks yourself? Acorns will select them for you based on how aggressive you want your portfolio to be. From there they will invest your “spare change”, which means anything you spend equaling up to a rounded dollar. So let’s say you buy a coffee for $5.80. They would round up and invest $0.20 into your portfolio. You can also select monthly contributions per week, month or day.
- eTrade – This one isn’t as popular because the fees can be higher, but eTrade does offer more advice that can help you get a handle on the market and how you are investing in it. If you are planning to trade often it is worth it but if you are more casual or only intend to trade occasionally it might not be for you.
Have a tool or resource for the list? Let us know in the comments!
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