Investing Guide for Teens (and Parents) (2024)

FAQs

How should a 14 year old invest? ›

They need the involvement of an adult — typically a parent — to open a custodial brokerage account or to authorize or to authorize the purchase of an investment. Details of how your parents can open a custodial account so you can buy stocks and funds can be found here: Best Custodial Brokerage Accounts for Kids.

A parent or guardian opens a custodial account for you and then “gifts” funds into it. For 2021, up to $15,000 can be gifted into a custodial account. Once the funds are in the account, you can begin investing the money. Of course, your parent or guardian will have to make the actual trades for you.

Custodial Accounts for Teen Investors

As a minor, you can make investments only under the supervision of your parent (or an adult) through a custodial account. Your parent will have to sign you up for a custodial account offered by an online broker.

A custodial account is a tax-advantaged account that adults can open to pass money and other assets along to the children in their lives when they reach adulthood.

If you put off investing in your 20s due to paying off student loans or the fits and starts of establishing your career, your 30s are when you need to start putting money away. You're still young enough to reap the rewards of compound interest, but old enough to be investing 10% to 15% of your income.

You must be at least 18 years old to open your own account and invest in stocks. However, there are ways around this rule that allow minors to invest with the help of a parent or guardian. To invest in stocks, you need a stock brokerage account.

1. Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI) Diversification and low-cost make a broad market, low-cost ETF that tracks a large basket of domestic securities the top choice for a child's custodial account. A great example is the VTI which holds a wide range of U.S. stocks to track the U.S. stock market.

In fact, many large custodians provide options for parents, grandparents, or any adult to set up an account for a minor child who has earned income. The adult can manage the account until the child reaches the required age in which the account must be turned over to the child.

Yes, you can absolutely gift shares of stock to your child(ren), as well as children who are not your own. This can be done by gifting shares that you already own (just make sure to research the tax implications of this beforehand), purchasing stocks for a child, or contributing to investment funds on their behalf.

A Roth IRA for Kids can be opened and receive contributions for a minor with earned income for the year. Roth IRAs provide the opportunity for tax-free growth. The earlier your kids get started saving, the greater the opportunity to build a sizeable nest egg.

How do I set my child up for life financially? ›

Dividend stocks

Dividends are paid per share of stock, so the more shares you own, the higher your payout. Opportunity: Since the income from the stocks isn't related to any activity other than the initial financial investment, owning dividend-yielding stocks can be one of the most passive forms of making money.

A great way to get kids interested and involved in investing is to open an investment account. Here are a couple of appropriate account types: A custodial account—If you want to give a gift of money to a minor—and at the same time introduce the world of investing—a custodial account can be a good choice.

Anyone at least 18 years old can open an online brokerage account. Those who are younger than that will need a parent's assistance. Parents can either open a brokerage account on their teen's behalf or set up a custodial account.

To open an investment account for a child, an adult must be involved. The adult must open the account, select the investments, manage tax reporting, and continue to manage the account until the child reaches the age of majority. This is usually at age 18 but could be age 21 in select states.

The 120-age investment rule states that a healthy investing approach means subtracting your age from 120 and using the result as the percentage of your investment dollars in stocks and other equity investments.

No matter your age, there is never a wrong time to start investing. Let's take a look at three hypothetical examples below. For these examples, everyone invests $57.69/week with a 7% growth rate and has an annual salary of $30,000.

What is a good amount of money to invest in stocks? ›

Experts typically advise you to invest 10-12% of your annual income in stocks. So if you make $50K a year, you'll want to set aside around $400 a month to invest with. That's about $4,800 a year.

Can Kids Invest in Stocks? Kids are absolutely able to invest in the stock market, but they will need help from a parent or guardian. The only ways for kids to invest is through joint brokerage or custodial accounts, meaning that a parent or guardian must open these types of investment accounts for children.

There's a reason why S&P 500 ETFs are highly recommended by Warren Buffett. These investments are safer, require very little effort, and can help you accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars or more over time.

Exchange traded funds (ETFs) are ideal for beginner investors due to their many benefits such as low expense ratios, abundant liquidity, range of investment choices, diversification, low investment threshold, and so on.

There are no age restrictions. Kids of any age can contribute to a Roth IRA, as long as they have earned income. A parent or other adult will need to open the custodial Roth IRA for the child. Not all online brokerage firms or banks offer custodial IRAs, but Fidelity and Charles Schwab both do.

The Bottom Line. A custodial Roth IRA can offer significant advantages if you want to invest on behalf of your child. Not only is it a powerful retirement-savings tool, but can also be used to help your child pay for college, buy their first home, or reach any of their other financial goals.

Is a Roth IRA better than a 529 plan? A 529 savings plan is generally an all-round good choice to pay for your child's (or your own) college, while Roth IRA may be a better option as a backup account to supplement educational expenses.

If you're thinking about your legacy, gifting stocks can be a valuable tool, as opposed to liquidating and paying capital gains taxes. As of 2022, the IRS allows you to gift up to $16,000 per year, per person — including stock. In 2023, that number increases to $17,000.

What is an ETF for kids? ›

Well, an ETF is basically an Exchange Traded Fund, which pools money it gets from investors, and invests collectively.

A custodial brokerage account allows adults to open a brokerage account for a minor. Parents can't open an IRA account in a child's name; a child can open one when they start earning taxable income. Families can open custodial accounts to save for college, and some have no minimum balance.

“A good rule to live by is to save 10 percent of what you earn, and have at least three months' worth of living expenses saved up in case of an emergency.”

There is no minimum age to invest in the stock market. Both a minor and an adult can invest in stocks. An account can be opened in a minor's name by the parents or the appointed guardian after submitting their respective documents.

One of the most common percentage-based budgets is the 50/30/20 rule. The idea is to divide your income into three categories, spending 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. Learn more about the 50/30/20 budget rule and if it's right for you.

How to Set an Allowance for Kids. A commonly used rule of thumb for paying an allowance is to pay children $1 to $2 per week for each year of their age. Following this rule, a 10-year-old would receive $10 to $20 per week, while a 16-year-old would get $16 to $32 per week.

Aim to have at least $500 to $1,000 set aside for an emergency fund while in high school, and continue to build this fund up as you take on more day-to-day living expenses over time.

A custodial brokerage account allows adults to open a brokerage account for a minor. Parents can't open an IRA account in a child's name; a child can open one when they start earning taxable income. Families can open custodial accounts to save for college, and some have no minimum balance.