Stock Market For Children -Should they have idea on it in 21st century?

Teaching your children the Investment  and trading  tricks can give them an edge later in life. Now a days children should have an idea on Stock Market . Teaching Simple lessons can help them to be a  better investors when they  will have some money of their own to invest. You should encourage children especially teens to learn and have budgeting habits. Starting early helps children develop good financial habits and understand the value of money, which can set them up for financial success in the future. Here a simple question arises that when and why should you introduce your kids to the stock market. Let us build an idea on this .

Stock Market

Early Childhood (Ages 5-10): At this stage, you can start with basic concepts like saving, spending, and the idea of money You can give a piggy bank to learn saving.

Pre-Teens (Ages 11-13): In this age you can  introduce more complex ideas like budgeting and the basics of investing. You can use games or apps designed to teach kids about money and investing.

Teenagers (Ages 14-18): Teenage is the time to  start learning about the stock market in more detail. They can understand concepts like stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. You can also help them set up a custodial account, where they can start investing with your guidance.

Young Adults (18 and above): At this age, they can open their own brokerage accounts and start investing independently. They can learn more  about more advanced topics like portfolio diversification and risk management e.t.c.

Saving vs. Investing

If you want to wait  your child to learn investment until they  can earn by themselves, you could help them  in saving. You can open a savings account. This would allow them to practice managing their money.

Invested money earns higher returns than saved money, although there is an element of risk involved in the former. If you think your child is ready to handle this concept of risk or has enough money saved away to learn it on their own, it may be a good time to teach them about investing in their Teen age and when they become young adult.

Investment Accounts for Kids

Before start teaching  the lessons on the stock market, you’ll want to make sure to open an investment account which is right choice for your child.

You can Open account and teach about simple banking investment like Fixed deposit, Recurring Deposit, Goal related investment etc.

How Old Do You Have to Be to Invest in Stocks?

 Prolific and astute billionaire investor Warren Buffett bought his first stock  at the  age of 11, from the money he saved working in his family’s grocery store. Buffett’s first experience with investment came in the year 1941. Things have changed between then and now, most of the  kids being well informed via modern communication devices.

Depending on the type of brokerage account you open for your child, there may be an age restriction on if they can invest. This is brokerage specific, but parents can usually open a custodial brokerage account for kids under 18 years old.

Financial Success Of kids improves by Investing for them Early in Life

Investing for kids at an early age can be one of the best investments parents make. Not only does it help prepare them for financial success later in life, but it also reinforces good habits and teaches them essential money management skills while they’re still young.

By starting to invest for kids when they’re young, parents are able to teach  the benefits of compound interest on their investments which can add up to a significant amount over time. Investing early also helps parents set a good example for their children, demonstrating that money can be used to build wealth and achieve financial goals.

Stock Market Analysis
Stock Market Analysis

 

How Kids Can Start Investing In Stock Market

Kids learn from family so Investment should be made as a family activity. Kids can join  in the  financial discussions , regarding their portfolio and can get knowledge. When parents discuss their holdings with children, they should help them understand that investing in stocks is a risky business and  it requires thorough background research and  analysis. They should have clear strategy before investing to  minimize  potential losses.

Step 1: Describe Investing in Simple Terms

You can explain to them that it is merely a form of deploying the money they have saved in something, which can fetch you incremental returns. One can also take the children to annual shareholders’ meeting of local companies to get them interested.

Step 2: Include Them While Choosing  Few Stock

Include them in stock picking by asking them which company’s stock they would prefer to own. Kids may not have full knowledge about the whole gamut of industries and sectors. At least they will be familiar with companies such as Disney, Nike, Nintendo etc, whose products they are familiar with. With these fledgling steps, though children may not get the whole hang of things, for sure, they pick up the basics.

Step 3: Practice With a Simulation

Before they are ready to go, you can make the children play stock market simulation games with paper money. At this point, you can do all the hand-holding children would need, walking them through the basics of investing. Once children gain some familiarity by watching the parents invest, and they accumulate some money for investing, parents can explain the concept of a portfolio, which serves the purpose of diversification and risk minimization.

Step 4: Open an Online Brokerage Account

 Let them build  a simple portfolio and hold that position for a number of years, a beginner youth account is a great way to go. They can create a virtual portfolio to learn. At the age of 18 they can create their own account and maintain a  portfolio.

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