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The Stock Market
If you are under 18 and already have some interest in the stock market, you have come to the right place. You’re probably wondering if you are even allowed to invest.
Well, first, let's talk about the stock market.
The stock market is where investors can purchase stocks! Stocks are slices of ownership in a company. For instance, you can purchase and sell shares of Ford, Netflix, Apple, Microsoft, and other companies with other parties who also want to do so by just clicking a button. There are thousands of stocks available for investment, and each stock or company's price is influenced by supply and demand.
Stocks are not the only method of investment. You may be interested in mutual funds, real estate, or even crypto!
With any investment, the goal is to purchase an asset at a lower value than what you sell it for.
Investing
So, if you purchased a $100 stock of Company X, you want to sell it for more than $100. This way, you can collect a profit. Suppose you wait six months, and the stock becomes $150. If you decide to sell at this price, you make $50 in profit.
Now that we have a basic understanding of investments, let's learn about how old you have to be to start investing real money.
Ok, how old do you have to be to invest?
Typically, you must be at least 18 to start investing in the stock market. But with a custodial account, you can begin investing as early as 13 to 17 with the help of an adult. Apps like Bloom also let teens learn about financial literacy early on!
Custodial Accounts
A custodial account is a brokerage account where an adult (usually a parent or guardian) sponsors the account. The sponsor agrees to look over the account and support your journey! On Bloom, the sponsor can set safety controls, like limiting high-risk stocks or manually approving the teen’s orders. Otherwise, the teen still has full legal access to trading and making the stock decisions on their own - it’s up to the family to decide from there.
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