Have you seen the Robinhood interface, it's gamified to the extreme, and you expect 20 year olds to be mature enough to resist temptation?
Additionally, when you are young, your financial decisions should be riskier. It's actually the smart thing to do.
If a person is willing to spend time learning some the basics of finance, and learning about different companies, I think they would be fine with just picking a few stocks. They just need to be watched carefully. As they start to have more capital, they should look to diversify and look to take on less risk.
Plus, everyone wants different things. Many on /r/wallstreetbets see gambling on the stock market as a way to improve their lives, and I don't think it is the worst option. A risky stock investment is better than wasting money on a sports car or something.
In general, I think when you are very young a very risky investment is not a bad thing. As long as the money isn't needed for other things.
I just feel like I'm starting to see more people throw around the "I'm young so I can make riskier investments" excuse when they put all of their investment money into a select few long shot stocks, and still make out worse than any simple fund.
I do dumb stock purchases but I also own shares of indexes. There is nothing wrong with a "YOLO" into a stock or option you believe in as long as you can afford losing it.
And?
If you can trust them to get behind the wheel of a car with lives at their fingertips, to drink and smoke and do with their bodies as they wish, I don't see why we're wringing hands about their financial prudence.
You will think that too when you reach 40.
> Additionally, when you are young, your financial decisions should be riskier. It's actually the smart thing to do.
Only if you ended up winning. If you lost, then it was the stupid thing to do.
Oh please, get off your high horse. I'm only a couple years away from 40, many of my friends have adult children, and I don't think the average 20 year old is some drooling idiot who can't handle life.
Most 20 year olds are smarter, have more self control, and more financially savvy than my parents, who are in well into their 60s.
I, personally, am looking forward to my 60s to understand what I'm doing wrong right now.
> Most 20 year olds are smarter, have more self control, and more financially savvy than my parents, who are in well into their 60s.
This might be a regional thing. Around here, statistics show that more and more young people are getting their finances in a state that's difficult to recover from before they reach 30.