Graduating from college with a car and retiring a millionaire are milestones within everyone’s reach.

That’s something the newly-formed El Camino College Investing Club believes students can bet on.

“If I can teach people something important, like a life skill that’s going to pay dividends in their future, I feel like I should do that,” President Shreyans Rana, 18, said.

As cost of living increases make everyday necessities more expensive and with California being the priciest state, the club teaches members how to beat inflation and make each dollar go further.

Meetings led by Rana and club Vice President Matthew Freeman include PowerPoint presentations about everything from weekly stock market recaps to information about investment portfolio types.

“[Rana] knows probably more than some of the stock brokers working [on Wall Street],” John Yeressian, real estate professor and former New York stockbroker, said.

On a national scale, Generation Z invests earlier and at a greater rate than preceding generations, according to the World Economic Forum.

Rana, Freeman and club adviser Xavier Miranda shared five tips for starting in investing.

1. Take an investor type quiz

Free investor risk adversity assessments online from Vanguard and others help people identify their investing style.

Rana said risky traders may choose exchange traded funds, safe investors may invest in established companies such as Coca Cola and growth investors may choose Nvidia.

”Find out what company you believe the most in. Put the majority of your money for the portfolio into that,” business major Rana said.

2. Track expenses and budget

Before people start investing, they will need to know how much they can invest.

“If you don’t have money to invest with, you’ll never invest. So, track your expenses. Make a budget. Make cuts,” Rana said.

Rana said to look at which expenses are variable and find alternatives if too much money is being spent.

Miranda said using resources including the Warrior Pantry, located near Lot L, helps lower grocery costs.

The club emphasized creating a plan — and sticking to it — of investing a certain percentage, such as 15% to 20%, of savings for the rest of their lives.

3. Use simple, low-cost brokers

Brokers allow people to buy or sell assets. Rana recommends the app Robinhood for accessibility and zero fee commissions.

”I always recommend Robinhood. It’s super easy to understand,” Rana said.

Other online broker options include Webull, Fidelity and Vanguard.

“Don’t go to a professional stock broker because they’re going to charge like a 100-bucks commission every time you buy or sell. That’s going to cost you a fortune,” Miranda, who teaches a personal finance class each summer and winter session, said.

4. Don’t procrastinate, invest now

Freeman said that any student, regardless of major, can invest.

”Investing is for literally anybody. Like if you’re making money, you can invest,” business administration major Freeman, 20, said.

People also don’t need a lot of money to start investing, either.

“A lot of people just have their money in checkings, in savings, but they forget inflation. So with inflation then they’re actually losing the value of their money over time,” Rana said.

Miranda said that although it’s safest for the banks, keeping money in a savings account is actually the least safe move for individuals wanting to preserve their money’s value.

5. Keep on investing

Money can grow quickly over time with favorable rates of return.

“People need to know that if they invest over time, keep compounding, they’ll beat inflation — not even just beat inflation, but they’ll make a lot more money,” Rana said.

With an admittedly doubtful example of a 50% return, Rana said people can expect $100 to turn into $150 a year later and then $225 the next year.

“Put money into [the stock market] and then when you’re 65, take it out and hopefully you’ll have a billion dollars. That’s a joke — not really,” Rana said. “But yeah, just keep investing.”

 

The Investing Club meets Mondays at 11 a.m. in Math, Business and Allied Health Room 202. More information about the student organization can be found on its Instagram page, @elcamino_investingclub.

 



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