In today’s video, I am going to take you with me as I open an account at Fidelity and invest $100 in 5 different stocks. I want to show you how simple investing can be.

1st we will open the account

2nd I will transfer money into the account

3rd I will do some quick research for which stocks to buy

4th I will buy 5 stocks using fidelity’s new stock slices feature

A little advice when it comes to choosing stocks before we dive into picking some out:

Don’t chase quick returns. You’re likely to have quick losses if you do. If you are really intrigued by something you think will have huge returns, then just get a bit- think of it as the cherry on top of your Sunday. I see a lot of beginners that start investing and get into really risky things, lose a good chunk of money and then stop investing. I want to set you up for long term investing success, so let’s try avoiding the illusion of quick massive gains.

Taking a more realistic approach, let’s look around at what we use and do a bit of research to see if we can find any good options to get into now.

I am recording this on a Mac and have an Apple Watch and iPhone, so let’s jot down Apple as an option. I use Instagram and FB every day. IG is owned by FB so let’s see what that looks like. I am not a Starbucks everyday type of person, but I do go there from time to time and I just bought Starbucks Iced Coffee and their creamer on my last Target run. Speaking of Target, let’s take a look at their stock as well. We watch Netflix, use Google who owns YouTube which obviously I use all the time.

I like using TipRanks.com to research stocks and get an idea of what analysts believe about different stocks I’m interested in. 

Now, we do have to take these analysts’ opinions with a grain of salt, but I do like to use them to give myself an idea of what is expected from the stock compared to where it is trading now. 

Let’s dive into the last stretch- actually buying these stocks. In the associated video, I take you through this process. 

One thing to note is it was easy for me to make these quick observations and decisions with this money because it’s not a lot, but if I was investing a large lump sum I would take a more subtle approach and go with a diversified but still aggressive investment portfolio and then add in some stocks for added potential growth. That’s how we are currently invested. We have funds for our main approach and then have some individual stocks.

This is a great way to get started with your investment journey, to learn how it feels to be invested, and to learn how investing works. As your knowledge and confidence grow, you can increase how much you invest.