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Originally Posted by mach1stang
Ok sorry if it's been posted in here before but I'm a slow reader and have only made it to page 4 lol! But I'm 23, working 50+ hours in heavy equipment and not making $15.75 and I'm just not happy with my financial situation, I'm trying to start my own business and a family and just don't feel comfortable with money and the long weeks are taking their toll on me now so I gotta do something.
I don't make a lot so the thought of shelling money out without really knowing exactly whats gonna be returned or when scares me, but whats a good starting amount of money to put towards stocks for somebody in my position?
Thanks
Kody
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It is a really difficult question to answer not knowing anything else about your financial situation. If you have any high interest rate credit card debt, I would pay that off before investing anything in the stock market. Also, not knowing if you have any savings set aside, I would advise you to have enough of an emergency fund for 9 to 12 months of living expenses. Home ownership is a goal many people have and if that is a desire of yours you may choose to make that a priority as well. Once those items are taken care of you can start to think about investing in the stock market and assuming you do not have a 401k at work, a Roth IRA may be your best option.
I learned to pay myself first when setting aside money for investing. I set up my budget to be able to save a minimum of 10% of my earnings for investment purposes. So if you make $787.50 a week (50 hours x 15.75), set aside $78.75 per week, once you save $1,000 or so, buy a stock that you like. Repeat the process until you have 10 to 20 stocks, then start adding more funds to your existing holdings. As you make more money, you will invest more by keeping the budget set to invest 10% of your earnings.