The majority of college students are concerned about studying for exams, finding flexible part-time work, fitting into new surroundings, making new friends, and so on. But there’s always the small percentage of students that are interested in investing and stocks. If this happens to be you then these five tips below are here to help college students like you start investing for a safer future. You don’t need a lot of money to begin investing, you just need the knowledge to invest it wisely.

Study Online to Save Money

The fact that online programs are cheaper compared to traditional campuses is already a benefit when it comes to investing as you have more money set aside. Studying online is often cheaper for students and more flexible on time, which gives you more money to invest, and more time to invest. You can study various degrees online such as the doctorate in nursing practice (DNP online) and so on. The best thing about studying online is that you are able to learn in a relaxed manner from the comfort of your own home with no set times to be at class. So if you want to take a day or two off for a big investment, you won’t have any issues.

Read as Much as You Can

Books are inexpensive, if not free online. They will be able to provide information that’s priceless. Reading a good investing book and online articles will help you gain the knowledge needed to become successful when it comes to investing. Try reading some books that focus on teaching you how to better analyze stocks, how to develop a winning investment strategy, and so on.

Start as Soon as You Can

Young investors have a big advantage over older investors – time. Investing just a small sum of money today could end up leading to big rewards for you down the line. Compound interest means that the interest you earn each year is given to your principal, so your balance grows at an increasing rate. “With the powers of compound interest, time really is money.” Says Howard Dyorkin. This compound interest calculator will help you calculate your savings based on the amount of money you are prepared to invest.

Pay Off Debts First

If you’re seriously thinking about investing, you need to think about the outstanding loans you already have, whether with the bank, credit card loans, and so on. You will need to decide whether it’s a good time to risk your money on the market. It’s best to pay off your debt first before beginning to invest because keeping in mind that paying off your entire debt provides a guaranteed return on your money, which isn’t the case for every
investment.

By spending your time in your local library reading books about investing and how to invest instead of heading out in search of the next college party, the chances are you’ll be in a much better financial shape than your other classmates.