4 ms·

I laughed at the article's url slug playing on the company's name - now-whos-the-rich. I haven't used Robinhood, but welcome new fintech companies who lower th

I laughed at the article's url slug playing on the company's name - now-whos-the-rich. I haven't used Robinhood, but welcome new fintech companies who lower the barrier of entry toward financial health for the average consumer. Good for them, and I hope they use this money well.

Boxbot 10y ago
I have my doubts that playing with the stock market is in any way conducive to "financial health" for the average consumer.
- astrange 10y ago
  Traditionally (or when I started looking), a single stock trade was $6 so you'd have to be moving 4 digits at a time to avoid losing everything to fees. But Robinhood's free. You can do $6 of trades in a year, still learn about stocks and not necessarily lose anything. Very hard to complain about that. I think a little literacy is needed, since if you're lucky enough to have savings buying CMF+VXF is a much better deal than keeping it in a bank account.
  - dharma1 10y ago
    Depends on what stage of the cycle you buy in at and what stage of the cycle you sell. Right now equities are priced very highly
    - walshemj 10y ago
      Especially the USA its looking quite expensive atm an index fund targeting the USA might not be the best bet right now
  - matwood 10y ago
    > But Robinhood's free. Most of the traditional brokers also offer commission free ETFs like VTI and VOO. I would argue it is much better for new investors to be buying VTI over thinking about getting rich buying penny stocks.
- jmathai 10y ago
  You can use Robinhood to purchase index funds. I know many of the Vanguard funds including VOO are on there.
- md2be 10y ago
  I'm not sure what you mean by "playing" the market but there has been no better creator of wealth for the working professional than owning, (yes that what you are doing when you "play") the total stock maket index. conpanies
greenyoda 10y ago
"who lower the barrier of entry toward financial health for the average consumer..." The barrier is already pretty low: - Max out your 401-K (and collect your company match, if any). - Invest in low-cost index funds from Vanguard. - Pay off your credit card debt, if any (since you probably won't make 20+% a year on your other investments). - Don't buy lots of stuff you don't need. On average, you'll get much better results this way than by trading stocks.
- mtbcoder 10y ago
  Is it low though? You read all the time that your average American barely has any money set aside for retirement or that they often need to leverage credit cards for emergencies. Even those that can put money aside, how feasible is it for them to max out a 401K? The barrier to entry into the stock market is incredibly high when you've only got at best $25 at the end of the month in your pocket.
  - greenyoda 10y ago
    1. People who are using Robinhood for trading stocks are probably people with stable jobs and disposable income, not people who are struggling to get by. If you have enough extra money to trade stocks, you probably have enough to max out your 401-K. 2. If you only have $25 left at the end of the month, you shouldn't be investing in stocks at all. You should be putting your $25 in a savings account for emergency expenses.
  - lotsofpulp 10y ago
    Exactly, I would even say the situation is so bleak for some Americans (and even people all around the world) that they might as well enjoy themselves in the short term, especially when they're young, while they can, as opposed to risking it on the uncertain future. Edit: Also, as the tax base gets smaller, I can see some of the tax advantaged accounts people have money in become not so tax advantaged. The money to replay all this debt (including infrastructure, environmental, and policy debt) has to come from somewhere, and I'd bet it's both from inflation and savings. Or someone hits the reset button with a revolution or war.
  - 10y ago

Boxbot 10y ago

I have my doubts that playing with the stock market is in any way conducive to "financial health" for the average consumer.

astrange 10y ago
Traditionally (or when I started looking), a single stock trade was $6 so you'd have to be moving 4 digits at a time to avoid losing everything to fees. But Robinhood's free. You can do $6 of trades in a year, still learn about stocks and not necessarily lose anything. Very hard to complain about that. I think a little literacy is needed, since if you're lucky enough to have savings buying CMF+VXF is a much better deal than keeping it in a bank account.
- dharma1 10y ago
  Depends on what stage of the cycle you buy in at and what stage of the cycle you sell. Right now equities are priced very highly
  - walshemj 10y ago
    Especially the USA its looking quite expensive atm an index fund targeting the USA might not be the best bet right now
- matwood 10y ago
  > But Robinhood's free. Most of the traditional brokers also offer commission free ETFs like VTI and VOO. I would argue it is much better for new investors to be buying VTI over thinking about getting rich buying penny stocks.
jmathai 10y ago
You can use Robinhood to purchase index funds. I know many of the Vanguard funds including VOO are on there.
md2be 10y ago
I'm not sure what you mean by "playing" the market but there has been no better creator of wealth for the working professional than owning, (yes that what you are doing when you "play") the total stock maket index. conpanies

greenyoda 10y ago

"who lower the barrier of entry toward financial health for the average consumer..." The barrier is already pretty low: - Max out your 401-K (and collect your company match, if any). - Invest in low-cost index funds from Vanguard. - Pay off your credit card debt, if any (since you probably won't make 20+% a year on your other investments). - Don't buy lots of stuff you don't need. On average, you'll get much better results this way than by trading stocks.

mtbcoder 10y ago
Is it low though? You read all the time that your average American barely has any money set aside for retirement or that they often need to leverage credit cards for emergencies. Even those that can put money aside, how feasible is it for them to max out a 401K? The barrier to entry into the stock market is incredibly high when you've only got at best $25 at the end of the month in your pocket.
- greenyoda 10y ago
  1. People who are using Robinhood for trading stocks are probably people with stable jobs and disposable income, not people who are struggling to get by. If you have enough extra money to trade stocks, you probably have enough to max out your 401-K. 2. If you only have $25 left at the end of the month, you shouldn't be investing in stocks at all. You should be putting your $25 in a savings account for emergency expenses.
- lotsofpulp 10y ago
  Exactly, I would even say the situation is so bleak for some Americans (and even people all around the world) that they might as well enjoy themselves in the short term, especially when they're young, while they can, as opposed to risking it on the uncertain future. Edit: Also, as the tax base gets smaller, I can see some of the tax advantaged accounts people have money in become not so tax advantaged. The money to replay all this debt (including infrastructure, environmental, and policy debt) has to come from somewhere, and I'd bet it's both from inflation and savings. Or someone hits the reset button with a revolution or war.
- 10y ago