Investing can seem overwhelming when you’re just starting. Thankfully, there are some excellent online resources you can turn to for education and research and online brokers built for novice investors.
So, what are the best investment websites for beginners? In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at some of the top investment websites beginners can use to get their portfolios off the ground.
The Importance of Investing
Investing your money in the stock market, whether in stocks and bonds, another asset, a business, or something else, is key to growing wealth over time. You put your money to work to generate additional returns over time by investing.
Investing is essential for virtually every major financial goal. Saving for retirement, for example, involves investing to build a nest egg that you can use for expenses after you stop working and your income drops.
You can also invest to build funds to buy a home or put your kids through college or pay for smaller things like family vacations. Consider having a brokerage account online or with a traditional bank. Online brokerage accounts hold financial assets such as securities on behalf of an investor with a bank, broker, or custodian. If you are working with a broker, ensure the person is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation.
Investing Goals
Your investing goals will play a major role in determining what investing style is right for you. If you’re investing for retirement, for example, you may want to focus on assets that offer long-term growth in exchange for moderate risk right now. On the other hand, if you’re investing for a more immediate goal like buying a home, you may prefer a lower-risk investment so that the market doesn’t impact your time horizon for a home purchase.
Remember that you can have multiple investing goals, and they may overlap. Some beginner investors prefer to create a separate portfolio for each goal. Others build a single, highly diversified portfolio that reflects each of their goals in its blend of investments.
Before investing, ensure you have an investment strategy, seek investment advice from an expert, or work with a personal finance writer. Also, check out the best brokers for beginners in your city or country and the account minimum for trading stocks.
Tips for Beginner Investors
First-time investors have a lot to learn, and some aspects of investing only come with experience. But as you’re getting started with investing, keep these four tips in mind to set yourself up for success:
Stay Invested
One of the biggest mistakes that beginner investors make is to try to time the market. Instead of buying and selling frequently on trading platforms, most beginners are better served by buying and holding. This not only requires less work on your part, but it also yields stronger returns in many cases.
Stick to Funds
It’s tempting to invest in individual stocks or news-generating new assets like Bitcoin. But the majority of your investment should be in funds such as ETFs (exchange-traded funds). Funds give you more diversification, so you’re protected against a drop in the value of any single company.
Minimize Costs
The investing world is rife with fees, such as commissions charged by your broker and management fees charged by funds. While you may not be able to avoid fees entirely, you’ll benefit in the long term if you minimize them as much as possible. When investing in ETFs and mutual funds, look for annual fees under 0.25%. If you find a fund that’s more expensive than that, look for cheaper alternatives with a similar composition.
Ask for Help
While learning about investing, don’t be afraid to ask for help. For example, you can turn to friends and family with more investment experience or work with a financial advisor/online broker to get professional assistance. You might also find that using an automated investment trading platform is easier than navigating investing on your own.
The Best Investment Websites for Beginners
However you plan to invest, you’re going to need resources to lean on for education, market research, and building an investment portfolio. There are tons of websites for beginner investors, which can be just as overwhelming as helpful. Here, we’ve put together a list of the best investment sites you can use to jumpstart your investing journey.
Best For Learning: Investopedia And YouTube
If you’re interested in learning more about investing basics, terminology, and strategies, Investopedia and YouTube are two of the best places to begin.
Investopedia
Investopedia is an online encyclopedia for investors, offering beginner-friendly articles on everything from stocks, online stockbrokers, funds, and investment accounts to fundamental analysis, portfolio assessment, and risk management.
It also offers new and experienced investors in-depth reviews of stockbrokers and financial services, plus a market simulator where you can try out investing strategies in a risk-free environment.
Click Here To Get StartedYouTube
As you might expect, YouTube is filled with videos for beginner investors and active traders. If you’re a visual learner, it’s hard to beat the video format. Many of the investing channels on YouTube feature helpful animations that illustrate market topics and break complex processes down into parts. Investopedia has a YouTube channel, which is a great place to start.
Click Here To Get StartedBest for Basic Research: Yahoo! Finance
Yahoo! Finance is an incredibly robust platform with educational resources on researching stocks and ETFs. Beginning investors can get an overview of any company at a glance, including whether it has been given a buy or sell rating by market analysts. The platform also has information on the best trading platforms.
If you want to dive into a detailed fundamental analysis, Yahoo! Finance also has an immense database of financial data. Almost all of Yahoo! Finance’s research is free to access, although you can unlock metrics like fair value with a Premium subscription ($34.99 per month).
Click Here To Get StartedBest for Stock Picks: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor
If you plan to build a stock portfolio on your own, a subscription to The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor is essential. This stock picking service has an average rate of return of over 438%, which beats the performance of many hedge funds. Despite this success, the service only costs $99 per year (discounted from $199/year). This tool can help you become one of the best online stock brokers.
Stock Advisor includes two stock picks per month, both of which are heavily researched and come with a detailed explanation of why the companies are worth buying. The service focuses on high-growth stocks, many of which are in the tech sector, and encourages investors to hold picks for several years or more. Check out Motley Fool Stock Advisor if you are looking for stock picks.
Claim Your New Member Discount at The Motley FoolBest for Auto-Investing: Acorns
Would you rather invest in a pre-made portfolio and have it managed for you than go through the trouble of building your own portfolio? Then consider an auto-investing platform (also known as Robo-advisors) like Acorns. Acorns allow you to choose from 5 ready-made portfolios, which are managed on your behalf so that they remain balanced over time. All of the portfolios invest in ETFs and expose you to a mix of stocks and bonds.
Another plus to Acorns is it is packed with features to help you stow away money for investment. You can set up recurring transfers from your bank to your investment account, for example, or link your debit card to transfer money to your account every time you make a purchase. Check out Acorns if you want to invest in auto-pilot.
Click Here To Get StartedBest Broker: Robinhood or Webull
If you’re planning to buy individual stocks or ETFs, you’ll need a broker. Two excellent options for beginners are Robinhood and Webull. Both platforms are native to mobile devices, allow you to buy fractional shares of popular companies, and offer commission-free investing.
Robinhood
Robinhood stands out for its community and discovery algorithm, which can help you find new stocks to research. It’s somewhat light on financial markets research and analysis tools, but the ease of buying and selling stocks with this broker is a huge plus for beginners.
Get A FREE Stock When You Open A New Robinhood AccountWebull
Webull has a more robust research and charting tools to help you analyze your investments. It also supports individual retirement accounts, a major benefit if you’re investing for retirement.
Click Here To Get StartedConclusion: Investment Websites for Beginners
Investing can seem complicated when you’re just getting started. With these websites for new investors, you can get the information and tools you need to build a portfolio and put your money to work.
