I’ve always been interested in investing in the stock market but never knew how or thought I had enough money to do so. Recently I discovered a mobile app called Robinhood, (officially known as Robinhood Financial LLC) which makes investing super easy and trading is free.
This app allows you to trade stock for free which is awesome. I believe it’s designed to target “millennial” who don’t understand traditional brokers and have small amounts of money to invest. I hate the word “millennial” but they got me. I consider myself tech savvy, not knowing too much about how Wall Street works but I definitely wanted to get started and this app seemed to be exactly what my millennial self was looking for. I did some research before getting started and found Robinhood. Many investors and day traders confirmed that it was the new app that is completely safe and legit to use, and I decided to go for it.
With $50 I opened my account and invested in Twitter and Meet Me. $50 isn’t really any money for a serious investment. I was only able to buy 2 shares of Twitter at $18.29 each, and 1 stock of Meet Me at $6.35, with about $7 left over. There wasn’t really anything of $7 or less that I felt inclined in investing. So it’s just sitting in the account at the moment. If I were investing the traditional way, with fees, $50 would have been a waste of money because a significant portion will go to the broker.
It’s been about 1 week since I downloaded the app and made my investments, and since then my $50 ranged from $50.95 to a current $49.95. I know I shouldn’t be checking it daily, but I just like to see where it is. It’s not like I’m going to liquidate it or anything. I’m perfectly fine with losing those $50. I may have a small gambling problem, and I know all to well: “Never bet something, you’re not willing to lose.”
No minimum deposit need.
Additionally, there is a password feature prompted every time the app is opened.
It does ask for your social security information and all that personal stuff, which makes sense. At the end of the year, if you make some serious bucks, the government will be expecting you to pay taxes on it.
If you decide to sell your shares, you don’t have to pay any fees and the final amount will be distributed into your bank account in 3-4 days.
Overall, I love the app! And I love now being a part of a world that I didn’t know I could be a part of at this point in my life. I wish I would have known about it sooner, because if I had invested freshman year, maybe my $50 would have turned into something significant by the time I graduated. I’m definitely not giving anyone financial advice, but just sharing my experience with it. If you decide to use the app, do it at your own risk. This post is not sponsored by Robinhood, I'm just a fan and wanted to share it.
If you’re not up for all that just yet, consider watching the episode “Net Prophets” of King of Queens to experience it through one of the best sitcom couples ever! Or go the completely different direction with Wolf of Wallstreet. Either way, I’ll see you next time!