Should i invest in stocks or bonds?

I am 15 years old (my parents made me an account) and i have about $2600. should i invest in stocks because i am soo young. Do i have enough money to diversify my portfolio. Should i go into international stocks or domestic? Or should i do something totally different? I did a lot of hmwrk, just want second opinion
What is an IRA and a roth IRA? (stand's for?)
name every type of bonds in the world you can get and definitions plz?
What's an ETF again? (more than exchange traded fund)
what's financing and refinancing/equity mean? (think i know, but not sure)
any other info you'd like to give?
**5 stars for best answer***

thanks, but can you guys answer the other questions...

You cannot diversify your portfolio that much with only 2600, however, that is a good amount to start a portfolio, and you can diversify in the future as you get more capital. You should go with stocks, at your age, you can be risky, young people are advised to do so.

IRAs are retirement funds, the Roth IRA takes taxed-money but withdrawals are tax free, it is good if you will go into a higher tax bracket as you get older, particularly when you retire.

I wouldn't mess with bonds, just because they have such low rates of return.

ETFs are basically mutual funds in stock form, you can buy them without a minimum amount to start, there are some good ones out there that you could invest in with your money right now, like 1k in 1, 1k in another and 600 in another, that would help you diversify your portfolio right now since ETFs hold portions of various stocks.

Good luck, you're starting at a very good age.

yes you can diversify with 2600 I showed you how. Report It

definitely stocks.

Socks and fawns!

stocks for sure

ok look. you cant just go in like that. i recommend to you go to amazon and buy the julie stav books. itll take u maybe 1 week to raed and youll know everything you need to know. you cant just buy a stock... you buy them and then you have to check the best time to sell, because if its not succesful youll lose your money. you really need to raed one of those books.

i would go with bonds because a lot of rich people control the stocks! its alrealdy predetermind if the stock will go up or down....so stick to bonds

It depend on your investment appetite. If you are a risk taker, then stocks. It earns u high returns but also gives u heart attack.
Bond, on anohter hand is stable. If you are thinking of long term investment, Bond shuld be a good choice for a start. Invest in stock only when u have a financial buffer for it...

time is your best friend, and you are starting early, so you'll be very successful if you keep it up for your adult life. I would recommend investing in an index fund, something set to the S&P 500 would be good. Just leave it in there and add to it every chance you get. You'll be suprised at how quickly it will grow.

If you are in it for some excitement instead of just growing your net worth, you can try some of the more specialized funds, but as you mentioned, you'll want sufficient funds so that the per trade fees that the online brokers charge don't hit you too hard.

I wouldn't bother with bonds until you get older and want to start to reduce risk in your portfolio in anticipation of starting to draw on it, or until you have enough money accumulated to the point where reducing risk in the short run is more important than long term appreciation.

You'll get better answers on the IRAs from others, so I'll let them cover that. Sometimes the best answers come in several responses combined.

Invest directly in stocks, not too many. Ignore funds, over the years their ticket clipping will erode your returns. Spend many years learning about the stockmarket and what adds up to good investments. Lot of fun and well worth it. Some smaller Australian mining shares are interesting....

Do your parents have a brokerage firm which they use? If so, perhaps you could speak with their broker about recommendations for investing. Generally, it's always good to be diversified - the younger one is, the higher percentage of your portfolio should be in stocks, as opposed to bonds.

I'm not sure whether one can invest in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) if he is as young as you are; but they, or another brokerage firm, should be able to advise you about that. The Roth IRA is generally a better choice for younger investors. My 40 year old son has one or more of this type of IRA. It is named after U.S. Senator William V. Roth Jr. of Delaware, and became law in 1998 (Public Law 105-34). In contrast to a traditional IRA, contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax-deductible. [So if you don't have any earned income, a Roth would probably be better choice.] An advantage of the Roth IRA over a traditional IRA is that there are fewer restrictions and requirements on withdrawals. With both types of IRA, transactions inside the account (including capital gains, dividends, and interest) incur no tax liability. Some of the information above is from the web site I've listed in the "Source" section below and some from "Wikipedia". If you haven't already done so, I suggest you check them out.

If someone were to *attempt* to name every type of bonds in the world you can get and their definitions, I neither believe it would be possible for one person to do so, nor would there be sufficient room, nor would it be productive - a good broker would do better by steering you into the right selections! Your other questions would also best be answered by a broker.

My brokerage firm is an small, independent organization which is run by a fellow Christian and his staff; however they are associated with one of the larger nationally-known brokerage firms. They sponsor a weekly investment program on a Christian radio station whose broadcast reaches most of the State of Ohio; but more importantly, they have a toll-free telephone number which can be called from anywhere in the United States. In fact, I believe they have some clients who are missionaries in other countries as well as several out-of-state clients. They mostly advise clients to make only domestic investments, as opposed to investments in international securities.

I believe it is neither appropriate nor permitted for me to put my brokerage firm's name, national association or toll-free number here in my answer; however if you make e-mail contact with me through Yahoo!7, I shall be glad to send the info to you the same way. My firm does not charge first time inquirers and potential clients for an initial consultation.

Most places will not allow you to buy securities at that young age. $2600 is actually ok IF you do it right. Mutual funds are good for IRA's (retirement accounts) roth is a little more flexible on when you cna take money out. I'm not even going to start on the different bonds way too many of them. ETF is right. your last one is mainly for mortgages which you don't need ot worry about for a few more years.

As for what to do with the $2600. Your BEST bet for now would be an online bank and let it get intrest. However you can be a little diversified with three ETF's (and these three I really like and will jump on them once my money gets cleared from my now previous broker) CWI All world minus US ETF I believe in Global plays. EXT Total earnings however as an alternate I also like PWJ from Powershares. Finally the new kid on the TIPS ETF IPE. $800 each one and let it build up from there yea start there and you should be ok.