If you never traded a share of stock before, it can seem complicated until being introduced to how the stock market works. Getting over someone’s fears, built-in misconceptions about investing and what’s just possible is the tough part. Yet despite any preconceived ideas you may have, Investopedia is an excellent free online resource on how to invest in stocks for beginners that can help give those of all ages new insight into the stock market and investing as a means to grow money and come to terms with your money personality.
The earlier that a person starts becoming acquainted with how the stock market works, the more comfortable that person can become buying and selling stocks. However, you don’t want to give your son or daughter a few thousand bucks to gamble away on penny stocks. But you still can get your kids or your toes into the waters of investing by using Investopedia’s stock simulator, which is a valuable training ground that doesn’t involve using real money.
Investopedia gives you or your kids the opportunity to trade with $100,000 in pretend cash and learn the ins and outs of investing without risk of losing your shirt. The only downside to making piles of money using their stock simulator is that those monetary gains are not real, but only virtual ones. For that you need to actually get into that pool yourself once you know you can ‘swim’ in the world of investing.
Essentially, the Investopedia stock simulator is set up as sort of a game. The stocks you buy are updated with real world pricing from the market. Participants select those same ones available on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange (AMEX). As a matter of fact, you see the charges for brokerage fees and all the expenses you can expect to see in the real world for gaining useful skills that can help later for future purchasing decisions.
This site, which is a part of the Dotdash group, is a great way to learn how the market works. Your kids can practice investing, picking securities, making trades and tracking the results. In the same fashion, beginners learn about the language of money and the basic investing terminology they could encounter such as momentum trading, shorts and P/E ratios. But if you aren’t sure how the whole process of investing works you may want to set up an account as well. In any event, it’s free to play and can leave you more informed as to how beginners can invest in stocks without losing your money. Check Investopedia out because you have nothing to loose and everything to gain!
This is something i have never done. This is something that they need to do in school.
This is really interesting. What a great tool to learn about stocks!