So i’ve recently made the big decision to put myself through two years of community college to be in a better place financially. I’m new to this whole investing thing and genuinely know nothing about nothing! I guess my first question is, how do i turn my money that would’ve gone into a university, into an investment?
That’s awesome you’re getting serious about your financial future! Do you have any non-mortgage debt? (If so I’d pay it off before investing)
Regarding investing, I probably wouldn’t YET. Since you’re just starting college, you probably have a lot of uncertainty in your life. Things like graduating, finding jobs, relocating, etc, etc. You don’t want to be “cash poor” for that stuff as you make your way into a good paying career.
I think it’s fine to just pile up that cash in a savings account until you’re out of college to make sure you don’t go into debt. If it turns out you never need the money, then great! After you get your first paycheck from your new job, dump it all in the market.
In the meantime, if you want to invest a few hundred bucks to just learn and get some experience that would be great. “How do I invest?” is kind of a hard question to thoroughly answer in a post like this. But in short you:
- Open an investment account (like a brokerage account or a Roth IRA)
- Put money into that account
- Use the money in that account to buy an investment, like an index fund!
My course walks through the above, teaching all the necessary info along the way! Less than the cost of a community college credit, and it will make you rich over your career! 