Today’s Youth Needs To Wake Up And Realize They Need To Save And Invest
Many young potential investors don’t trust the stock market. Many times this is because they have seen their parents lose money in the market plunges in the early 2000’s and 2008. Watching the angst their parents went through would naturally lead many of them to shy away from stocks. There was also the silly Occupy Wall Street protests that also put portrayed the market negatively. So, for people in their 20’s or early 30’s, learning how to start buying stocks isn’t a priority.
Sadly though, it is exactly that age group that will do best buying stocks as they have the longest time horizon possible. Someone who is just out of college or who has recently gotten their first job perhaps has thirty to forty years before they will retire. That extended time period would allow them to make it through any market downturns and keep holding on for retirement.
Investors who have short time periods to invest in have the most risk when it comes to stocks. You need to be able to stay strong and not sell when faced with a sinking market. Eventually, history has shown, things will go back up and you need to still be holding on to your stock to get that money back. For instance, everyone who held their stocks in 2008 and early 2009 took a beating but are now ahead in 2013 if they didn’t sell.
Another reason youngsters should get interested in stocks is because they might not have families yet and actually have money they can invest if they want to. The word “want” is the key word though, as too many don’t feel the need to save and plan for a future that is too far off for them to vision. It is too bad that in today’s world, going into debt is socially acceptable and planning for retirement is rare. It should be the other way around and today’s youth may never have a chance if they don’t wake up and think ahead.
