Some things in life are just begging to be pushed to the end of my to-do list, not to be done until I’m absolutely forced to: filing my taxes, making the appointment to get my yearly skin check, calling maintenance to finally fix my finicky door lock—the list goes on, and for me, finally dipping my toe into investing always had a permanent spot on my to-do-eventually list.
*The following is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice.
Where I began
In partnership with Public, they gave me $500 to begin investing. Once I had my funds in my app, I was prompted to invest in blue-chip stocks like Google and Apple to get my portfolio built. I chose to divide my $500 between five stocks, investing $100 each in Google, Apple, Disney, Amazon, and Visa.
The process was much easier than I had anticipated. I expected to be greeted with hard-to-understand jargon, but Public helped me get my money invested in the stock market immediately, and then I could easily trade and sell my stocks from there, right in the app.
To decide what to trade, I relied on the social network part of Public to educate myself. I looked at what fellow traders were talking and excited about, which helped me understand which stocks were currently doing well without needing to have the NASDAQ ticker up on my TV all day (or have men on cable screaming about what I should invest in). I learned from real people who spoke in layman’s terms, and it helped me decide to invest in ACN (Accenture Public), something I previously had no knowledge about.
Being able to interact with other, real investors made investing something I actually looked forward to. I checked my app every day and watched my shares go up and down and began to understand why. I felt empowered, curious, and excited—three words I never thought I’d associate with my investing experience.
