Week 18: Investing Basics

“Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world.

He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn't, pays it.”

Albert Einstein

Its 2021! A new year! Perhaps this year you've decided to start really investing. Investing has been one of the most widely used ways people have grown wealth in modern history. Outside of real estate or running a business, investing has been used as a way to expose yourself to various markets across the globe, with the goal of increasing the amount of money you have. However, investing has also been a way people have lost money, even very quickly when the investment is risky. If you are unfamiliar or very new to investing, this week's Tuesday Fix is for you, as the videos this week will walk you through the basics on what to invest in!

1. What The Heck Is An Index Fund?: An index is an indicator, sign, or measure of something. So index funds are funds that represent a certain group of stocks, with the most popular being the S&P 500 index fund, a representation and benchmark for the stock market. Index funds often just give the average returns for the group it represents, but increasingly this is what investors are looking for.

Watch What The Heck Is An Index Fund? by Two Cents

2. Bond. Savings Bond: The Bonds are a way to become the lender, instead of the borrower. Bonds are dealt out by governments and companies to be bought, where you will receive and interest payment, and at the end of the term, you will receive your money back. This video gives you a quick overview of how bonds work, and the different types of bonds.

Watch Bond. Savings Bond by Two Cents

3. What the Heck Is a Mutual Fund?: Now mutual funds have a lot of similarities to index funds, but are not as tied to keeping to certain groups as index funds. There are a lot more types and variants of mutual funds, all with different fee structures and goals. This video takes you through a summary of mutual funds in order to prep for your journey into exploring them.

Watch What the Heck Is a Mutual Fund? by Two Cents

Call to Action! Here are some great places to start if you want to dive in the investing world and start to build your wealth!

PaperGain: A community that is built around sharing investment knowledge

EZ finances: Top stock picks and other investing strategies

Lyn Alden Investment Strategy: Basics to building & understanding wealth

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