Investing

So a friend of mine asked me about investing, and so this post is in response to that. Any of us that have been in the workforce for any length of time know about investing from the lens of a retirement account, but did you know there are more way to invest your money than just a retirement account.

In all honesty investing is the only way that you can make money and not do anything to earn it, but you can also loose a fortune as well. With that being said let's get to it. Ok so there are several options that you have when it comes to investing and investment accounts. I won't get into them but I will tell you what they are.

We hear a lot about retirement accounts a lot of times those are tax deferred which is good until you withdraw the money, and then obviously you pay the tax on it. Within this group there are IRA's, Roth IRA's, 401k's, and 403b's. Roth IRA'S and IRA's are purchased through places like Edward Jones. Most employers offer a 401k plan if they have a retirement program unless they are a non-profit organization then it's a 403b plan if they have one. These generally tend to be a safer option if you have a low risk tolerance.

Then you have individual investment accounts and​ business accounts. These are purchased through a brokerage firm or investment house and are self explanatory. With an indvidual investment account you put up the initial investment and then place the money into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, currencies, or  other investments. Some companies will automatically allocate your money and adjust it as needed. I won't cover business accounts because I don't have any experience with them, but just know that they are out there and available.

Last but not least you have currency trading. This is by far the fastest​ way to replace your income​, but if it isn't done right you can loose everything. This is also known as forex or just fx. This is the most volitile level of trading and also carries the highest risk.

There are some things to keep in mind. Investing isn't for everyone and shouldn't be gone into lightly. Most companies require at least $250 to start and depending on what type of trading you are going into you could be required to deposit more, in some cases over $100,000.
The beauty is that with the exception of the retirement accounts and minimum investments it's basically universal. Different markets will have different stocks and equities, but the process is the same.