Chatting Money

So ladies, buying stocks can really be quite fun. Not convinced? Let’s discuss. The ultimate fun is that generally speaking, you get to make MONEY over time – which of course lets you enjoy every other aspect of your life more. Once you buy stock in a company you believe in, you start to pay more attention to them, root for them, think about how they can succeed. You kinda get sucked in, I must say.

So my ask from this post is…..just buy ONE share of stock. If nothing else after reading this, just buy one share. We’re gonna walk through how, but that’s the ask. Will you do it?

Apparently ladies don’t buy stocks, at least not to their knowledge. A survey in Glamour magazine in 2018 found that 85% of women between the ages of 18 and 60 don’t own stocks. They found it was due to many reasons – not having saved enough, not earning enough, having credit card debt. I believe all of those reasons, for certain, but let’s just start with $50. Save it over the next couple months if needed, that’s all I’m going to ask. This is a stepping stone to being on equal-investing-footing (catchy, isn’t it?) with men. Do it for equality. Overall, per some research covered in the NY Times in 2018, about half of US households are invested in the stock market, through pension or 401k’s or mutual funds, in addition to owning individual stocks.

You may have a 401k through your job, or some other retirement account, and THOSE may have mutual funds in them. Mutual funds are a collection of stocks put together by an adviser, so normal people don’t have to make individual selections in stock. So you may own stocks that way, by just picking some selection for your 401k that a friend or colleague recommended. Mutual funds can be a great investment, an incredible way to be invested, but today we’re talking about buying stocks in specific companies. It’s always more fun when you’re engaged. (I mean in investing, not engaged to be married. Although also fun. I hear.)

I just saw a post from Sallie Krawcheck, who is the CEO of Ellevest, a company that focuses on specifically women investing. In this post, Sallie talks about an ad she saw from Oppenheimer Funds – an investment company (they manage mutual funds, see prior paragraph). The ad states that you should “Stay invested. History shows a 99% chance of positive returns.” Well that sounds compelling, doesn’t it?? Let’s get into that!!

Oppenheimer did some data digging, and posted it on their site. Turns out it’s true. The stock market goes up and down, there are bad days and periods (years even), like the Great Depression, the Recession in 2008. BUT the cool part?? Anyone who stayed invested for any 15 year period between the years of 1926 and 2018 had a positive return 99% of the time. That’s pretty sweet. The advice here is to pick investments and stay with them over time, don’t try to jump in and out when you think the price is right. The lesson is invest over time, and diversify when and what you buy.

So you have to start somewhere, right? Today, let’s just talk about buying a stock with your $50. The jumping-in place. What will you buy? Well, you may not know that stocks trade at different values, so Uber for example, started being a publicly traded stock last week – which just means the general public can now invest in them, by buying shares of stocks, instead of just private investors putting money in the company. (To be a private investor you have to know people. Publicly traded companies, you just get on the internet to invest). Uber started trading at $45 per share. But I asked you to buy $50 of stock? Does that mean we have to buy 1 share of Uber, and then find a stock at $5? Who shops like that?

Traditionally, yep, that’s kinda how it works. You’ve heard of Warren Buffett, right? He’s one of the richest billionaires in the world, and his company, Berkshire Hathaway, invests in other companies to make money. Their stock (BRK-A) is currently $306,200 for 1 share. I typed it right, that’s correct, the price of a really nice house for one share of stock. He’s really good at picking companies over time, hence his wealth.

A side story, when I was young, at every holiday my family enjoyed a box of See’s Candies. If you’re not familiar with them yet, you’re welcome. They make (in my completely biased opinion) the best chocolates in the world. Happy to give you any advice on which to choose, all varieties are lovable. In the 6th grade, I think, we did a “faux” investing exercise in class, and we had to pick 1 stock and follow the price for a year. The teacher recommended something you know and love, so I said ok, I want to buy a share of See’s!! Turns out Berkshire Hathaway bought See’s in 1972, so for me to buy them, that’s the stock to follow. Well at the time, one share cost something like $3,800!! One share!!! (That was late ’80s). Suddenly that $306,200 (as of May 15) sounds great! Imagine if I’d actually bought that one share at $3,800 back in 1987……

What are some stocks you may relate to, and want to try for your first purchase of $50 in stock. Well there is Starbucks (SBUX – this is the symbol it trades under, you only get a few letters on a stock exchange), and it’s currently at $78. Lululemon (LULU) – do you love their yoga pants? They are $173. Are you an iPhone and Mac die hard? Apple (AAPL) is $191. I’m obsessed with Prime shipping, so a share of Amazon (AMZN) is $1,870. (Wow, right?? Yeah, they’re doing a lot of things really well, you’ve probably heard). Lyft (LYFT), now $54, and Uber (UBER), now $41 are both available to buy too. Think of a company you support regularly, either in philosophy, or you just love their product, like a latte or a phone or pants – like Levi’s (LEVI) at $22. (All these prices are midday on May 15, it changes all the time, of course.)

Now there is more fun! It used to be you had to pay the price of one share to get a stock. But there is a cool new internet startup called Robinhood (robinhood.com), and they allow you to buy as MUCH as you want. So if you want to buy Amazon, and only spend $50, you can on their website and app! You basically get a part of a share. Great idea, makes all stocks more accessible. They don’t charge you any fees to buy stock or to sell it, and you can open an account there with ANY amount of money. Pretty cool, hard to deny.

So there is literally no reason NOT to invest just $50. There are lots of other online options to buy stocks, like eTrade, and Wealthsimple, or Sofi. Here is a review of them from NerdWallet, a handle tool for comparing financial stuff of all kind. Pick your favorite.

Do note, I’m not endorsing any of the stocks you want to pick, or any of the websites or services. I’m telling you some options, there are a gazillion options. But I absolutely AM endorsing the idea of investing in yourself and your future! Go to one of the sites. Open an account (it took me like 5 clicks on Robinhood, you link it to your checking or savings account to transfer money), and buy a stock.

Follow your new stock purchase every once in a while. The iPhone has a cool app that comes standard, called “Stocks” that let’s you watch stock prices. You can see the news related to the stocks, and where the price has been in the past. There are many apps to track stocks, and you know CNBC and Bloomberg channel are dedicated to them. Enjoy watching your $50. Maybe add another $50 in a DIFFERENT stock in a couple months. It’s just getting your feet wet. Did you do it? Are you in??? Would love to hear your stories – what did you pick?? There are many different ways to invest, this is just one, specifically where the ladies need to jump in a bit more. Let’s jump!