Investing Technology

Investing can be interesting to learn more about the way things work... 

The practice of investing in the stock market has been something that intrigued me from a very young age. I followed companies like Microsoft and Apple and when I turned 18, I started dabbling in the markets. I still do to some extent (not as much as I'd like to) but one thing has changed.... 

The typical brokerage house is no longer the sole player for the average person to work with for investing purposes. I was able a number of years back, to get an account with Robinhood. I've played with stocks off and on in it, and as new features have come online, I've tested them. 

Robinhood for all extensive purposes is a brokerage firm that I didn't really think would exist when I was younger. No fees for pretty much everything, and now they do partial shares and DRIP. They have debit cards, banking (checking/savings) and are talking about doing more going forward. You can also do leverage accounts with them (options accounts). They have for a long time offered free accounts and a free share of stock if you join. 

Shameless plug... sorry.... Robinhood: Join Now! if you use that link, you and I will both get a free share if you sign up. Long story short is, if you have ever thought of investing, it's not a bad deal. A free share for you to start with. NOTE: I'm not by any means offering you any advice and you should always consult a trained / licenses financial expert if you have questions about investing and risks, taxes etc... 

I can say, that they have paid fairly decent for savings (or cash on hand in the account either to be used for investing or for debit card use). It's been fun messing with cheaper stocks that aren't overly expensive and if I were to lose them I could be ok with it (less than 5$ a share... I'm not keen on losing money, but sometimes dabbling with the markets can be fun). Case and point right now is a company called OXLC (Oxford Lane Capital) and F (Ford Motor Company, you know... Ford trucks etc). Both are as of today's post under 8$ a share... both pay a dividend, and both can be used in Robinhood with DRIP (Dividend Reinvestment Program).