Everything You Need to Know About Buying Your First Lotta Shares

Feeling bullish? 🐂

This article is presented in partnership with Equity Mates.

Before acting on any information in this article, you should consider your money goals and financial situation to ensure it’s appropriate to you.

Been hearing the buzz about investing for a while now but don’t know where to start? Perhaps your mate is boasting about their latest earnings on the market, or you’re just starting to think about your future financial management.

If you’re 18 or older, you can start buying and selling shares on the stock market. But it can seem like a huge, scary world out there, so we’re gonna break it down for you.

Psst… if you’re super interested or itching to know more, Australia’s biggest investing festival, FinFest, happens to be coming up on 15 October in Sydney. There’s over 25 educational sessions with some of the best investors and business leaders in the industry—grab tickets here!

First things first: what is a stock?

If you buy a stock, you’re buying a small piece of ownership in a company.

Imagine Company X is divided into thousands of tiny pieces, and you choose to buy one.

But why do companies sell their stocks?

Simple: to raise money. They’re essentially asking shareholders to place trust in their company that it will be successful.

That’s what all the finance bros mean when they say they’re “bullish” on something—it’s fin-speak for “confident that a company will do well”.

People usually gain a general sense of the market after lots and lots of experience. But if you’re just looking to be more of a chill investor—perhaps just spending a few minutes a month on all this stuff—attend the “Get rich slow” event at FinFest with Kate Campbell for advice on how to build wealth without letting it all consume you.

What’s in it for you?

If Company X is worth a decent amount and then suddenly skyrockets in value, that share that you bought will also increase in value.

So, if you bought that one piece of stock for $10 back in the day, it would be worth $20.

You could either decide to hold onto the stock and hope it grows even more, or sell it and make a profit of $10 off your original purchase.

You can see how investing can be lucrative, when it’s done right and carefully. But coming into money can be pointless if you don’t know how to manage it—and Effie Zahos’ event at FinFest, “Top tips to sort your money”, can help you with that.

Back to buying and selling your stocks… that’s when a broker comes in.

What is a broker?

When you buy and sell stocks, you’re participating in an exchange between other buyers and sellers on the market. This is mediated by brokerages.

Back in the day you’d see an ad in the paper, ring ‘em up and say, “I’d like to buy 500 stocks in Company X, please!”

But eurgh—who makes phone calls anymore? There are now dozens of online broking platforms and investing apps you can use—just make sure you do thorough research before using them.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of all things stocks, trading and investing. We didn’t even mention NFT’s, index funds, mutual funds, or the Big C (cryptocurrency)!

If you want to workshop your finance skills, meet people in the industry and have fun while doing it, FinFest is the place to be. Grab tickets here!