With today’s crime rates and poverty rates in some neighborhoods in Chicago, the question you should ask is if your neighborhood affects your income and potential to save and invest. While there may not be as many investment firms or even banks in your neighborhood, with the internet you may have investing resources that just aren’t visible to us. Investing at a young age can be a huge part of one’s future success. For example, Arthur Olunwa is a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Exelon Investment Office and he shared a story about how he invested 10 pounds ($12) per week out of his paycheck for 9 years. Without even knowing it, Arthur would invest this money via direct deposit. When Arthur went to withdraw his money, he found out that the investments that he had actually had grown to $10,000!
Now you may ask what does this have to do with teens or young adults? Teens and young adults can take the opportunity to invest a small amount of the money they get a week as well and put it to a good use. Start first by building your savings. According to Moneyunder30.com, “If you’ve never been a saver, you can start by putting away just $10 per week. That may not seem like a lot, but over the course of a year it comes to over $500.”
When Rolisa Jenkins, a student at Illinois State University, heard about saving and investing she thought it was a brilliant idea. “If I would have known about this while I was in high school, I would have a decent amount of money right now.” Mr. Olunwa encouraged teens to consider free or low-cost investments apps such as Betterment as a way to invest at a young age. (Betterment is free for one year.)
Be sure to check out the app’s qualifications, insurance, features and all fees. Collegeinvestor.com rated 5 free investing apps for young adults in 2018 and included Betterment as one of their top 5 apps. Other free apps that remain free include Robinhood, a fee free stock trading app, and Fidelity, TD Ameritrade and Vanguard’s fee free ETFs. (An ETF is an exchange traded fund. You can find ETFs that follow specific index funds.) Overall, start saving and investing early! Even investing a small amount of money could set you up for success in your future no matter where you come from.
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