Many hold their finances as much in secret as their intimate relationships. However, learning how to invest your money can make a big difference in your financial future.
If your car breaks down and you end up needing $200 in repairs to get it back on the road, you only have a couple of options. You can use your emergency savings fund and get your car back on the road.
For a young adult just starting, $500 is a good place to start. For a married couple getting ready to grow their family, starting with $2,000 may be perfect.
Once you actually sit down to figure out how to invest, you may end up with a blank stare like I had when I first started. Fortunately, investing can be done with many different vehicles.
Let’s take a look at some basic first investments to decide where you want to start your investing career to obtain financial freedom.
Stocks
When the concept of investing in the stock market is introduced, most people are thinking about stocks. These individual stocks are essentially small pieces of ownership in a company.
The easiest way to describe a bond is to describe it as a form of debt. When you invest in a bond, the money is given to a borrower, and their repayment of that money is given to you, plus interest.
Mutual funds are a group of assets that you essentially purchase with other investors. Each fund has varying investments that help to diversify the overall investment.