Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Investing & The Undergraduate

You're low on money, you are barely scraping by until Friday, which is payday. You only have to be poor 1 more day! Payday comes and goes, and on Tuesday, you check your wallet out of curiosity. Just Moths.... You start thinking, where did my money go?

If you have ever been in this situation, I share in your aggravation. My goal, over last summer, was to find a way to utilize my check, so that by the end of the week, I could proudly look back, and see where my money, (or at least some of it) was allocated. That goal was achieved when I was introduced to investing, and the stock market. Investing, for me anyways, achieved two ends. The first was, that I could see where my money was going each week, and the second, investing made saving money a LOT easier, due to the fact that when your money is invested in stocks, compulsive buying is drastically reduced due to the lack of liquidity in your money.

At first, I was very skeptical, and thought that investing was only for older people who had money to spend. In the past decade, however, many discount brokers have popped up on the internet. I spent weeks researching the various options that were available, and I finally decided on the Discount Broker Tradeking. Setting up an account was a breeze, and within a few days, I made my first transaction. I purchased 4 shares of the Real Estate company Equity Residential. Over the past few months, the cost of this equity has fluctuated from the high $50's, down to the low $30's. However, one thing that I have found consolation with, is the fact that, I have received two quarterly dividends so far. Each, only totaling around $5 dollars each, but imagine in the future, if you get a dividend payment for 100, or 1000 shares? You could have a nice second income, if you work at it. In conclusion, Tradeking offers a very easy trade setup, and the best part, is the low cost of commissions, which is $5.95. Give it a try!

UPDATE!!
I must add one thing to this post. Although investing is very good for your financial future, you also have to make time to have fun. One of the most fun things, that require just a small amount of money, is pranking people. If you visit my friends blog Wacky Revenge, you will find many ideas on how to prank people, Especially in the college atmosphere

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