When did you start investing?

[Cpus]

And what company?

 

[jman19]

When I graduated college.

What do you mean, "what company?"

If you're buying stock in one company, you're not investing - you're gambling.

 

[Cpus]

True. I meant buying stock.

 

[Meractik]

Years ago when the CD rates where way better I started there, now though I transitioned completely out of CD's since the interest is laughable, now I choose lifecycle funds and Roth. plus regular savings account, which I might transition those funds into a CD if things get better. but for now I don't want to restrict the usability. Btw im 27.

 

[Arcadio]

Index funds with Vanguard.

 

[KeithTalent]

About 15 years ago with the company I work for.

KT

 

[Miramonti]

My first personal investment was buying AAPL at 13 7/8 in '97. That gave me enough to start a career in daytrading.

 

[Cpus]

My first personal investment was buying AAPL at 13 7/8 in '97. That gave me enough to start a career in daytrading.

Lucky. My parents would never let me invest when I was a kid.

 

[Miramonti]

Lucky. My parents would never let me invest when I was a kid.

I doubt mine would have either, so I didn't tell them when I bet my life savings ($210) on the 49ers to win the superbowl and beat the spread (a friends dad went to vegas and placed it for me.)

I confessed a few years later to betting and winning. I guess that was actually my first investment.

 

[Imp]

Two years out of college. I fail at investing and sell too early. Only up about 4% this year, while everything else is 10% plus. All I had to do was hold an extra month and I'd be 10+% up.

 

[TallBill]

Index funds with Vanguard.

This. And 529's with USAA

 

[Cpus]

I doubt mine would have either, so I didn't tell them when I bet my life savings ($210) on the 49ers to win the superbowl and beat the spread (a friends dad went to vegas and placed it for me.)

I confessed a few years later to betting and winning. I guess that was actually my first investment.

Oh. But you had to have asked your parents to let you invest in apple right?

 

[Fenixgoon]

TSP lifecycle 2050

 

[DaveSimmons]

I opened a brokerage account in 1999 but I had a 401k before that.

I buy and hold low-expense broad market index funds like the S&P500, forever. No stock picking, no market timing, no actively managed funds.

 

[Vic Vega]

When I graduated college.

What do you mean, "what company?"

If you're buying stock in one company, you're not investing - you're gambling.

That depends on the company and what your goals are. I bought my first stock in IBM in the early 90s with the intention of keeping it. Now work about 9X what I paid for it.

 

[TallBill]

I opened a brokerage account in 1999 but I had a 401k before that.

I buy and hold low-expense broad market index funds like the S&P500, forever. No stock picking, no market timing, no actively managed funds.

I figure that once I'm about 40 I'll start moving a bit from market index funds to some bond funds but basically I follow the Boggleheads guide to investment.

 

[Brainonska511]

Index funds with Vanguard.

This. Probably at the very start of college using some funds I had saved from working in HS.

 

[jman19]

That depends on the company and what your goals are. I bought my first stock in IBM in the early 90s with the intention of keeping it. Now work about 9X what I paid for it.

That is true, I guess I was just speaking in general terms. If you're just getting started, some small sampling of stock picking is usually where it starts.

Actually, to further clarify: some of the best investment managers, even with a lot of capital, may have strong convictions about only a limited number of positions. For the average buy and hold investor who is thinking long term only, probably good to diversify.

 

[Jumpem]

401k at age 26 when I started my first real job. Right now I am putting any extra cash into an emergency fund and student loans. Then paying off the mortgage. Investing outside of a 401k will come around age 40 when the house is paid off.

 

[Leros]

When I got my first real job out of college.

 

[Miramonti]

Oh. But you had to have asked your parents to let you invest in apple right?

I was well of age by then. I had started a job at a real estate company that used macs and was shocked of the talk about apple possibly going out of business. It was the first time I worked on them and loved the interface/gui so much, I had to bet against their demise.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have not really started yet, I probably should. I do have RRSPs which I suppose are sorta a form of investment. I need to find an online place to buy stocks though, would be cool to day trade on slow days at work.

 

[bbhaag]

I think I was around 25. Mainly mutual funds through a traditional IRA.

 

[Cpus]

I was well of age by then. I had started a job at a real estate company that used macs and was shocked of the talk about apple possibly going out of business. It was the first time I worked on them and loved the interface/gui so much, I had to bet against their demise.

Oh sorry I thought you meant you were 13 7/8 years old when you bought it.

 

[vi edit]

Started a 401k with my first employer out of college once I met the enrollment period of 6 months I think. That was in the spring of 2001. I was 23 at the time. When I was 25 and had a bit more extra money I started a Roth IRA through Vanguard.

I had a brief run with an investment firm between careers and provided tech support to investors. This was around 2005. I remember getting a call from a very pleasant Greek gentleman who was one of our top investors and just chatting up with him while I waited for something to load on his computer. He was telling me some stocks to look at and said to take every dollar I had in mutal funds and put it on Apple. It was like $25 at the time.

I wish I had taken that advice.