Market Briefs Newsletter

Subscribe to our FREE finance & business newsletter to get financial news you can finally use.

Thanks for signing up to Market Briefs! Please check your email to confirm your subscription. If you don't see the email in an hour, check your spam and promotions folder. 

Be sure to read our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.

  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Minority Mindset

Minority Mindset

Defy all odds.

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
    • WEALTH
    • REAL ESTATE
    • CRYPTO
    • STOCKS
  • PRODUCTS
  • MONEY 101
  • GUAC TALK
Advertiser Disclosure

Our promise to you.

Minority Mindset, LLC is an independent, advertising-supported publisher. We are not an investment advisor. Always do your own due diligence and never blindly listen to a random article on the internet. We do our best to provide financial education with our free videos, articles, tools, and other self-help content. But these are for informational purposes only, they’re not investment advice.

Minority Mindset does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information regarding your individual circumstances. The examples we provide are hypothetical and we encourage you to get advice from a qualified professional regarding specific investment, tax, legal, and financial issues. Previous market performance does not guarantee future performance.

We want everyone to be able to make educated financial decisions. We do not feature every company or financial product available. However, we’re proud of the financial education and guidance that we provide at no charge.

We’re paid by our brand partners and advertisers. This may influence which products we mention, review, and where they appear on our site. But it does not affect our recommendations or advice.

See more from Investing

How to Invest in Your 20’s

January 11, 2021 by DJ

DJ Whiteside January 11, 2021

How to Invest in Your 20's

Disclaimer

We only endorse products that we truly believe in. Some of the links below may earn us some extra guac at no additional cost to you. Please pass the chips & thank you for feeding our habit.

Your 20s are full of new experiences: Moving out of your parent’s house, graduating college, getting a “real” job, and beginning a life of your own. However, one responsibility that you’ll also want to start tackling is how to invest. 

You might think that just because you’ve got student loans or are living paycheck-to-paycheck that it’s too soon to get involved with investing.

But this is precisely the time that you’ll want to start learning these strategies and mastering the techniques that will make you wealthy later in life.

In this post, we’ll talk about the 5 best ways to get started with investing and what you can learn from each of them. 

PlatformFeesPromotionsLink
$0 FeesGet a cash bonus of $30-$500 when you deposit $1,000+ in the first two weeks.Learn More
$0 FeesGet one free stock priced up to $225 when you link a bank account.Learn More
$0 FeesGet two free stocks when you deposit $5 within 30 days.Learn More
$0 FeesStart investing with as little as $1.Learn More

1- Start Recognizing Money-Making Opportunities

One of the first investments I ever made was a simple one. Back when online banking was brand-new, I did some research and determined I could make almost $500 if I moved a huge chunk of my savings into an online account.

That might seem like such a small accomplishment. But at the time, it taught me a very valuable lesson: Where you save your money can make all the difference in how hard it works and what it ultimately achieves for you.

To this day, whenever I invest, I still think about where my money is going and how this decision could benefit the potential return.

The sooner you start recognizing these types of money-making opportunities, the faster you’re going to start putting your money to work for you.

2- Get Comfortable with the Markets

I’ll be honest – Investing scared me at first. The idea of putting my money into something where I might never see it again seemed like insanity to me.

Investing wasn’t like putting my money in the bank where I’d earn a nice, predictable interest rate. Investing meant taking a “risk”, and I wasn’t sure this was something I wanted to do.

Then, one day, I just went for it. I put $1,000 into a mutual fund and watched what happened … 

Guess what? Doomsday never came. My investment went up or down by a few dollars here or there, but it never bombed like I thought it would. In fact, it seemed to go up in value on average the more time I gave it.

That’s when I learned one of the biggest challenges to investing was just getting over those initial market jitters. Over the long-term, there’s money to be made. You just have to get past your own fears and inhibitions and learn to ride out the market turbulence.

3- Take Full Advantage of Your Retirement Accounts

When I started my first professional job, I knew absolutely nothing about 401k plans. And to make matters worse, it seemed like no one really wanted to take the time to explain it to me or help me to understand why I should be contributing to one.

Fortunately, I was curious enough to go seek out this information myself. And boy did I learn what a golden opportunity this was!

First of all, I quickly found out that for every dollar you contribute to your 401k plan, it reduces the amount of taxes you owe to the IRS at the end of the year.

For doing nothing more than simply stashing my money away, I was saving thousands of dollars in just taxes alone.

But then the good news didn’t stop there. I also learned about employer contributions and how they were another sure-fire way to almost double your contributions.

(Yours might be different depending on how your employer matches contributions).

Finally, I also got to know about the power of compounding returns. By taking full advantage of my retirement accounts in my 20’s, my modest contributions would have the power to grow to potentially millions of dollars by the time I would be ready to retire.

It was mind-blowing!

The takeaway: The sooner you start contributing to your retirement plans and understanding the rules, the more wealth you’ll ultimately accumulate.

Whatever you do, don’t delay. Start using your plans today.

4- Ignore the Noise

I hadn’t been investing or contributing to my retirement plans for very long when the Great Recession of 2008 hit.

Suddenly, the stock market was down by almost half of its earlier value and everyone I knew was beginning to panic. I began to think I should be doing the same …

Thankfully, I then stumbled across a tip from investment guru Warren Buffett that I still carry with me to this day: 

“Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful.”

His point: When the markets dip, don’t do anything hasty that you’ll regret. To be successful at investing, you have to go into it with a long-term mindset. You have to stay the course.

By doing this, you’ll not only be able to dismiss all the noise going on around you, but you’ll also be able to take advantage of opportunities that are only going to help you achieve your goals sooner.

Against my fears, I actually started increasing my 401k contributions so that I could scoop up as much of this discounted market as I could. Years later, I can say that was a move that paid off in a big way!

5- Define Your Long-Term Financial Goals

I remember as I was becoming more comfortable with investing and retirement planning, I started making calculations that showed I could potentially achieve financial freedom in my 50s or even 40s.

That got me even more excited about what I was doing because it showed me that shaving 10 years or so off of my working timeline could be a reality. 

This is an important step that I believe a lot of people miss when it comes to learning how to invest.

Having the technical know-how is great and very useful. But it's really the action of defining your goals and determining what you want from all of this that gives your efforts their purpose.

Remember, too, that your goals can be fluid. The goals you have today may not be the same goals you’ll have 5 or even 10 years from now. And that’s okay.

The important part is that you’re building up towards something that you feel currently will bring the most value to your life.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to your finances, your 20s can become the foundation from which your future wealth is generated.

Use this time to learn about how money works, how you can make it work for you, and ultimately what you'll want to do with it once you have it. Happy investing!

Contributor’s opinions are their own. Always do your own due diligence before investing.

Keep Reading:

  • 3 Easy Steps To Getting Started With Stock Trading
  • Index Funds vs. Mutual Funds – Which is the Right Investment for You?

  • The Importance of Starting Retirement Planning Young

Written by DJ Whiteside.

DJ writes about retirement and credit cards. He loves looking for new ways to optimize savings, build wealth, and sharing what he learns with others.

Primary Sidebar

Advertiser Disclosure

Our promise to you.

Minority Mindset, LLC is an independent, advertising-supported publisher. We are not an investment advisor. Always do your own due diligence and never blindly listen to a random article on the internet. We do our best to provide financial education with our free videos, articles, tools, and other self-help content. But these are for informational purposes only, they’re not investment advice.

Minority Mindset does not and cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information regarding your individual circumstances. The examples we provide are hypothetical and we encourage you to get advice from a qualified professional regarding specific investment, tax, legal, and financial issues. Previous market performance does not guarantee future performance.

We want everyone to be able to make educated financial decisions. We do not feature every company or financial product available. However, we’re proud of the financial education and guidance that we provide at no charge.

We’re paid by our brand partners and advertisers. This may influence which products we mention, review, and where they appear on our site. But it does not affect our recommendations or advice.

More From Investing

  • Is SoFi Legit? Using SoFi To Invest
  • What Age Should You Start Investing In Real Estate?
  • How To Invest $100 To Make $1,000 A Day
  • How Exactly Does Crypto Staking Work

Get Your FREE Guide To The Stock Market

& our daily newsletter

Thanks for signing up for our financial education emails! Check your email to confirm your subscription. If you don't see the email in an hour, check your spam and promotions folder.

Be sure to read our Privacy Policy & Terms of Use.

Featured Investing Posts

Is SoFi Legit? Using SoFi To Invest

What Age Should You Start Investing In Real Estate

What Age Should You Start Investing In Real Estate?

How To Invest $100 To Make $1,000 A Day

How To Invest $100 To Make $1,000 A Day

How Exactly Does Crypto Staking Work

How Exactly Does Crypto Staking Work

The Latest On Investing

Stock Market Investing Accounts

Best Stock Market Investing Accounts for 2022

Kraken Crypto Review 2022 - Why You Should Use Kraken

M1 Finance Review

The Ultimate M1 Finance Review - Great For Experienced Investors

RealtyMogul Review

RealtyMogul Review (2022) - How It Works, Fees And More

Robinhood Review

Robinhood Review - How To Use Robinhood In 2022

The Ultimate Fundrise Review 2022

How To Invest In Bitcoin with $100

How To Invest $100 In Bitcoin Today

Webull Alternatives

Webull Alternatives To Consider - Top Investing Apps In 2022

Coinbase Review

Coinbase Review 2022 - Everything You Need To Know

Is Foreclosure.com A Legit Way To Find Real Estate?

Footer

As Always Keep Hustlin’

Company

  • About Us
  • Store

Help

  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • YouTube

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • GDPR Opt-Out
  • Comment Policy
  • Terms of Use

Follow us on:

Disclaimer: The information on this site is of a general nature only. It does not take your specific needs or circumstances into consideration. You should look at your own personal situation and requirements, and seek independent professional advice, before making any financial decisions. Our content is provided for informational purposes only, and no content that is provided or included in our products or services is intended for trading or investing purposes. We will not be liable for the accuracy, usefulness, or availability of any information transmitted and/or made available by way of our products or services, and shall not be responsible or liable for any trading and/or investment decisions made by you based on any such information. For a further understanding of this Disclaimer and use of our site, please see the information contained in our Terms of Use and Advertising Disclaimer.

Minority Mindset may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased or recommended through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnership with retailers and brands.

Minority Mindset has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Minority Mindset and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.

© 2022 Minority Mindset, LLC. All Rights Reserved.