I didn\’t start investing until I was 29. Not because I didnt want to – I just thought you needed like… thousands of dollars to get started? And a suit maybe? And definitely some secret knowledge that rich people had and I didn\’t.
Turns out none of that is true. My first investment was $50. I did it in my pajamas on my phone. And honestly I wish someone had told me years earlier that it could be that simple.
The biggest myth that kept me broke
I thought investing was gambling for rich people. Like you needed to pick the right stocks and watch the market all day and somehow know when to buy and sell. That\’s what it looks like in movies anyway.
Real talk – that\’s not how most successful investors do it. Most of them (like literally most, there\’s data on this) just buy index funds and leave them alone for decades. That\’s it. That\’s the whole strategy.
An index fund is basically a basket of lots of different stocks bundled together. Instead of betting on one company, you\’re betting on like… 500 companies at once. Or the whole market. When the economy grows, your investment grows.
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Where I actually started
I opened a Roth IRA with Fidelity. Took maybe 15 minutes. You can also use Vanguard or Schwab – they\’re all fine, don\’t overthink it.
A Roth IRA is a retirement account where you put in money you\’ve already paid taxes on, and then it grows tax-free forever. When you retire and take it out, you don\’t pay taxes on the gains. That\’s a huge deal. I wrote a whole thing about Roth vs Traditional IRAs if you want the deep dive.
For 2025, you can contribute up to $7,000 to an IRA if you\’re under 50. But you don\’t have to max it out – any amount helps.
My first contribution was $50. Then I set up automatic transfers of $25 every paycheck. Not life-changing money, but it was something.
What I actually bought
A target date fund. That\’s it. One fund.
Target date funds are designed for people who want to invest for retirement and not think about it. You pick the fund with the year closest to when you\’ll retire (for me that was 2055 or something) and it automatically adjusts over time, getting more conservative as you get older.
I know people who spend hours researching individual stocks and building complex portfolios. Cool for them I guess. But for most people, especially starting out, a single target date fund or total market index fund is plenty.
Don\’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Something invested beats nothing invested every single time.
The $50 that became… more than $50
So that first $50 I invested? Over time, with regular contributions and market growth, it turned into actual money. Not millions – I\’m not writing a get-rich-quick article here. But watching compound interest actually work is wild.
The thing about investing is that time matters more than amount. $50 invested at 25 will be worth more at 65 than $100 invested at 35. I wish I understood this when I was younger.
Every year I waited cost me money. Real money. Not theoretical money.
But what if the market crashes?
It will. It literally will crash at some point. Multiple times probably. This is guaranteed.
And here\’s what you do: nothing. You leave your money alone. You keep investing the same amount every month. You don\’t panic sell.
Every market crash in history has eventually recovered. The people who lost money are the ones who sold at the bottom. The people who kept buying actually got stocks on sale.
This is easy to say and hard to do when you watch your account drop 30%. I get it. But long-term investing means accepting short-term drops.
What about my 401k?
If your employer offers a 401k with a match, do that first. Like before the IRA. A match is literally free money.
If they match 50% up to 6% of your salary, that means if you put in 6%, they add another 3%. That\’s an instant 50% return on your investment. You will never beat that anywhere else.
At minimum, contribute enough to get the full match. Then if you have more money to invest, you can add to a Roth IRA.
Common excuses I used (and why they were wrong)
\”I\’ll start when I have more money.\” You\’ll never feel like you have enough. Start with whatever you have, even $20.
\”I need to learn more first.\” You can learn while doing. Open an account, invest in a target date fund, and read more as you go.
\”The market is too high/low/uncertain right now.\” There\’s literally always a reason to wait. Time in the market beats timing the market.
\”I have debt, I should focus on that first.\” Depends on the interest rate. High-interest credit card debt? Yeah pay that first – check my debt payoff guide. Low-interest student loans or a mortgage? You can do both.
Just start
I\’m not a financial advisor and this isn\’t financial advice and blah blah blah. But seriously – if you\’ve been putting off investing because it seems complicated or scary or like something \”other people\” do, please just start.
Open an account. Put in $50. Buy a target date fund. Set up automatic transfers. Oh and make sure you have a basic emergency fund first so you dont have to pull money out when life happens.
If you\’re in your 20s, I wrote specifically about investing in your 20s and why starting now matters so much.
Future you will be so grateful. I promise.