Tony Elion Jr.
Tony Elion Jr.
- Tony Elion Jr. is a veteran turned financial investor and author of "Sailor to Student."
- He didn't start investing until he was 36 years old because he was intimidated by the jargon, so he taught himself how to invest and built a portfolio valued at $300,000.
- Elion says the best way to learn about investing is to tap into new tools like social media and investing apps that keep a tab on what's happening in the investing world.
- Finding good groups and books are also on his list of do's.
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Like saving, investing is a word that so many people dread. The mere mention of the word can cause anxiety and discomfort for so many, especially if it seems unaffordable or inaccessible. After all, do you really want to ferret away funds to invest if it means skipping that much-needed vacation?
Besides the fear of allocating funds you'd rather spend elsewhere, a lot of the anxiety comes from feeling insecure about making haphazard decisions and wondering whether the next guy knows a thing or two more about investing.
I know these feelings entirely too well. These are the precise feelings that prevented me from beginning my stock portfolio until I was 36 years old. I was intimidated by the terminology, overwhelmed by the numbers, and embarrassed because I had no idea where to begin learning about investing.
Fortunately, we live in a day and age where investing tools are at your fingertips - if you know where to look. I eventually pushed past my anxiety, discovered resources for self-educating, and kicked open the door of investing: I started law school in August 2017 with around $53 in my checking account. About a week later, I received my first scholarship refund check; I invested it in Amazon stock. For the next two semesters, I used my refund checks to invest, and in 13 months, my portfolio had grown to over $300,000.
So how can you get started? Here are the tools I used to initiate and perfect my armchair-investing strategy.
Buy "Investing All-in-One For Dummies" by Eric Tyson
The world of investing is crowded with terminology, which I find is often the first anxiety trigger for those looking to get into the game. This book provides quick-and-dirty foundational knowledge of terminology and concepts that are needed to begin investing.
Part of the wildly popular "Dummies" series, it breaks down complex topics in an understandable fashion. The great part about this book is that it offers not only investment explanations, but also explores personal finance. "Investing All-in-One" is filled to the brim with valuable information for beginners, and a used version can be purchased online for under $20!
Or, you can simply dust off your library card and check out a copy of this and other great finance books for free at your local library. Other notable books for beginners include "Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!" and "The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy."
Download some finance apps
Finance apps based off of business news organizations - like those offered by MSN Money, Yahoo Finance, and CNBC - are packed with great resources, just a click away. These resources include minute-to-minute tracking of the American indexes (Dow Jones, S&P 500, and NASDAQ) and breaking stories that impact national and international markets.
The greatest resource I have found is "the watchlist" available on these news sources' apps. By creating a watchlist, a user can track individual stocks without having to think about it - you can set notifications and you're good to go. It is a great way for beginners to create a virtual stock portfolio and track its progress. Every company inside my stock portfolio, as well as companies that I want to keep an eye on, are on mine.
Another great app is the Virtual Stock Market Game, which gives you a virtual budget and portfolio. (Imagine fantasy football, except the goal is creating a dream stock portfolio instead of a dream football team.) This game gives a novice investor the chance to interact with the market, learn how to select stocks, and watch how stocks can grow or deteriorate over time, without having to put any financial skin in the game.
Use those hours you already spend on social media to monitor investments
From Twitter to Instagram, following a financial news or investment page provides free information from investors, media outlets, and authors. Those occasional updates will plant seeds of knowledge in your head as you scroll.
For example, if you follow ESPN on social media and the headline reads "Lebron James leaves Lakers for Knicks," you don't have to read the article or watch a single NBA game to know that the Lakers' chance of winning a championship has severely decreased.
This is what happens when you get headlines from investment social media pages as well. Information about company developments, global conflicts, and new stock IPOs are sandwiched between photos of your in-laws' summer vacation and updates of your college roommate's lunch options. I follow Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, The Finance Bar, Black Enterprise, CNBC, and Business Insider.
By following finance-centered pages, you don't have to read newspapers constantly to have your finger on the pulse of what's going on in the world of investment. Not every headline will affect your portfolio directly, but having the information in your newsfeed can give you a good heads up when major things take place that affect the entire market.
Investing can be social. Join some groups!
Investing doesn't need to happen in a vacuum. Joining social media groups and message boards across the internet can place you with like-minded individuals. This will allow you to learn from the experiences of others, ask questions about specific issues you don't understand, and get real and varied feedback. Don't ever be afraid to toss a question out there - the internet is pretty anonymous and was created as a platform for idea and information sharing, after all.
However, you have to find a group that is truly focused on furthering the understanding of investing. I'm in a few private groups on Facebook, such as "Black Stock Investors." There are many predatory groups used solely for self-promotion of a product or as scams to get people to invest money in a pyramid scheme or "get rich quick" course. If something smells off, move on. There are plenty of investing-group-fish in the sea.
Ultimately, we live in an age where we have access to powerful, low-cost tools that can help us understand the markets and become better investors. The first great investment anyone can make is educating themselves. Use your time to find the apps, books, and finance news outlets that work best for you. Once you arm yourself with these tools, you will discover the world you once believed was inaccessible has been waiting for you all along.
