I have a friend (let us call him that) who got me into cryptocurrency…
“BUT IT’S NOT REAL MONEY!”
Cryptocurrency is a rather talkative subject. How can we just “make up money?” Well, it turns out that in actuality, upon further research, that guess what? You can actually buy Ethereum for $50 and it will double the next day. You sell for $100 and bank $50. I tried it, and though I do not quite understand the dynamic of cryptocurrency, I do know this: $300 in investment in stocks, cryptocurrency, and dividends are in…
TRADING FOR MILLENNIALS
As a Millennial myself, I found that stock trading is becoming a big deal. Though we may think that right now is the worst time to be investing time and money into a stock market, there are many benefits to it. For example, I use Robinhood thanks to my “friend’s” suggestion. I invested $300 in stocks and though I have not seen a return, the worst case scenario is selling all shares and taking what you originally put in. Robinhood is an example of the “Millennial investment strategy:” it is an app built for the demographics of those between ages 18 and 29, according to one recent study. It makes it easy to buy and sell stocks, shares, options, and cryptocurrency. But why should you care? I thought this would be a fun blog topic because it touches upon a rather important issue: why does the Millennial have more money than the man using a brokerage firm?
THE DAYS OF ETRADE ARE OVER
With that in mind, let us tough bases on Robinhood.com. It is a trading website with no commission, and you can deposit money in, invest in supported stocks (shoot for cannabis companies, as the market is going to skyrocket when it becomes federally legal), and sell whenever you want. The tool was designed specifically for the Millennial age because let us face facts: the days of eTrade.com are over. However, it raises the question of: why are they targeting the one group that has the lowest global net income? There is a term called “The Boomerang Generation.” This refers to the fact that those ages 24-35 are, by nature, going to leave the home, go to college, search the job market…only to find they are competing with others with much higher qualifications. A recent estimate found that one-third of that age cohort are “boomerangs:” they leave the nest only to move back in with mom and dad when they fail at finding a well-paying job.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR STOCKS
So, a lot of Millennials are actually making more than we may think. I have met hundreds of people building their stock portfolios (yes, including cryptocurrency) at younger and younger ages. With features like Robinhood’s “Gold” version, where you can actually borrow money from the company for trading, it seems the laziest way to hold a job. Yet LinkedIn is flooded with headlines titled: “Investor” or “Cryptocurrency Broker.” It seems almost as if the best place for a Millennial is from home, on their laptops of smartphones, selling stocks and playing games. I have been to mansions of individuals on business consulting endeavors. They have a lot more money than I do, and they managed that with a startup cost of around $355 per month in stock trading.
THIS IS NOT A PITCH!
Do not take this as a self-directed pitch. I know nothing about the stock market and I am not saying: “Try Robinhood” (I would if they would pay me, however…). But it means we have to start realizing that our future may actually rest on the notion that virtual work, stocks, crypto, and more are on the rise in the United States more so than any other country in the world. This is not to say it is without risk, but the Millennial is the new target market for these stock-trading companies. I would advise you to think a bit differently about Millennials. As one, I am finding ways to make passive income that also allows for experience and growth in a number of industries in the weirdest places, such as stocks or cryptocurrency. Millennials may have it right!