Stock Market Savvy
Multiply Your Money
Which Job Pays Highest?
Say you were offered two jobs. One paid minimum wage. The other paid one
penny the first day, two pennies the second, and kept doubling every day. If
you took the second one, you’d have $21,474.84 after only 31 days!
People invest for the same reason you would take the second job. If you saved money by tucking it away at home under your mattress, you’d never have more than the amount you put there. But if you invest in mutual funds or stocks, you may eventually double and triple your money as the prices of the stocks rise and dividends are paid.
Get In the Game
At age 17, Dan Stover of Upper Arlington, OH, has been learning about the stock market since he was in the eighth grade. About that time, a teacher explained the concept of compound interest — when the interest your money earns in an account starts earning money too — and Dan was convinced to get involved. "I saw that the stock market was consistently traveling six to seven percent above the interest rate I was getting at the bank. I didn’t want to be left behind."
Dan suggests getting involved in a stock simulation game at school or on the Internet. Because these investment simulations are not real, you tend to be less cautious, allowing you to learn more than if it were real money. Try MainXchange.com, which offers investing basics and background info on companies, as well as stock market simulation games where you can win prizes.
Revised: December 13, 2001.
Copyright © 1998-2000 by YoungBiz.com.
All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective
owners.