How Early can You Start Investing?

By: Samantha Asher
If you could invest $100 a year from the day you were born until you retire at age 65 and you earned a 10% return in the stock market, you would retire with over $500,000. $500,000 might not seem like as much in 65 years because of inflation, but this still doesn't doubt the power of time on your investments.

Increase that amount of money and you can earn much more. The problem is your parents probably didn't start investing even just $1 a year from the day you were born. Still, the earlier the better when investing. You probably can't start investing at age 5 if only because you don't make any money at that age, but when can you start investing?

If you are grown and out of school with a full time job, you should definitely be investing. Ideally, you have some type of retirement account such as a 401K or an IRA and possibly some of your own investments such as a mutual fund.

If you are wondering if your kids are old enough or if you are in high school or college and are thinking about investing, just think as soon as possible. There are a few obstacles for young investors.

If you are a minor, it is harder to start investing. You can have your parents open up an account in trust for you or just ask them to make investments for you and keep track of them and transfer them to you when you are old enough. If you have absolutely no way to start investing and no one to trust to help you, then just start saving. It's likely you wouldn't have much to invest anyway at such a young age.

This brings us to the next obstacle. As a teenager or preteen, you may not make much money, if any at all. Even if you are in college, you might not be working and instead are focusing on your schoolwork. This is fine. Save whatever money you do make that you don't absolutely need. When you do start investing, you will have some money to start.

If you aren't ready to start investing real money, you can always practice in the stock market. Wall Street Survivor is a great program that offers a stock market simulation game. It is absolutely free and you can even win cash prizes. They will give you $100,000 of imaginary money to invest and allow you to practice your investing skills. While you won't make any real money, you won't risk any either.

You can save money at any age, and with Wall Street Survivor you can at least practice investing at any age. Get a head start and when you are ready to invest, you will be more than ready!

Are you ready to start investing money while in college? It's never too early to start investing and college is the perfect time. Learn more about investing and how to get started at LearnAboutInvesting.info