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The Importance of Financial Literacy
While taking the time to learn may seem daunting, putting off financial literacy and investing until the stakes become real is not a good idea. Learning in a safe environment, while you can lean on your parents for support and guidance, can speed up the learning curve.
To live the life you want, having control of your finances is crucial. Managing your money wisely helps you avoid costly mistakes.
A strong financial setup can allow you to focus your time elsewhere to pursue success and reduce stress levels.
Optimizing for Investing
If you aren’t already, put yourself out there and start working. Investing can only maximize the money that you already have, but this doesn’t mean you need to be rich to get started.
With an income, you can save that money and invest it. With investing, there is an inherent risk, but with savings rates at an all-time low, savings could fail to beat inflation. If you learn to invest properly, you increase your odds of success.
Consistent Efforts Produce Longterm Gains
Imagine, too, that you took it to another level and started consistently watching YouTube videos or listening to podcasts that taught you something unique about investing. Even if you don't take much from a particular video or podcast, the fact is that you learned something you didn’t already know, and you can now use that knowledge to make more informed decisions. Instead of getting trapped in social media, maybe set a goal to complete one financial literacy module a day on Bloom!
How to Learn How to Invest
Educating oneself goes hand in hand with using your time wisely. It doesn’t mean we should always strive to learn, but there should be a healthy balance between television and homework or video games and SAT prep, for example. Without balance, our education is affected. We need to feel invigorated and stress-free if we are to learn.
Learn Investing like Swiping through Social Media
Bloom, an investing app for teens, has an education series that introduces teens to the stock market simply and practically. Utilizing unique resources like investing apps can help you keep up with core investing principles even in a fast digital world.
Methods for Self-Studying Personal Finance
In what ways can I educate myself as a teenager for a better future?
As a teen, you're likely in school, so you're probably already learning the basics of arithmetic, physics, history, and English.
You are starting from a solid foundation. Learning is a skill that can be used throughout life.
There is a lot to learn outside of the classroom, and regardless of your career aspirations, there are a few ways you can self-study.
- Follow creators that produce educational content around personal finance
- Download financial literacy learning apps like Bloom
- Listen to podcasts and learn from the most famous investors!
- Define your goals and make a plan to achieve them. Start paving your perfect path.
- Invest with your friends and learn from each other!
How to Start Investing as A Teenager - Custodial Accounts
Aspiring investors under the age of majority must use a custodial account to start investing. A custodial account requires a sponsor, any US Citizen who is 18+ or 21+, depending on the state. Sponsors are typically parents or relatives of the young investor!
Custodial accounts operate just like adult brokerage accounts. There is no contribution limit. You can also invest in various assets, from stocks to ETFs to crypto!
Custodial accounts are a flexible way to invest. Once the teen reaches the age of majority which vairies based on the state, the ownership of the account will transfer to the teen.
There is no limit to how much a custodian can put in the account at any stage, and an individual can contribute up to $15,000 ($30,000 for a married couple) to an account without incurring the gift tax.
Early investment through a custodial account enables young investors to learn, take risks, and become familiar with the markets while having their parents as a safety net and source of support.
Parents can closely monitor their teen’s success and learning with apps like Bloom.
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