How to invest in the stocks market

This is one of the most commonly asked questions from CNNMoney readers. Many people want to become the next Warren Buffett , but they don't know where to begin investing or even how much money they need to make the first purchase. Once you have a few thousand in savings, then you can start investing. But investing is risky. You can lose money, especially in the "short run.

The best advice for new investors. Once you have the cash, an explosion of trading apps has made it easy to get going. You just have to have enough money to buy the stock you want e.

Robinhood launched in March It already has about a million users. Tenev says many begin by investing just a few hundred dollars as a way to dip their toes in and learn. Over time, they add more to their portfolio. The most popular stocks people buy. If you really want to start small you can use an app like Stash or Acorns. Stash offers you a choice of several funds to invest in. You basically end up owning part of a stock -- similar to sharing your apartment with roommates. Acorns allows you to deposit "spare change" from say, your coffee purchase.

How to get great advice: Feeling too intimidated to pick your first stock or fund? There are a lot of great -- and cheap -- services that will do it for you.

Betterment and Wealthfront are good examples. They use computer models to figure out the best portfolio mix for you based on your age, income, goals and tax situation and they will invest your money for you. Betterment doesn't have a minimum balance requirement, so you can start with just a few dollars.

How I bought a house at age More established players like Fidelity , Charles Schwab and Vanguard are lowering their prices and offering more options to cater to "new investors," especially Millennials. You can call them up or stop by an office in your town to discuss what to do.

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Always check the fees. The 1st question to ask your financial adviser.

Figuring out what to buy is tough. There are roughly 2, stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange alone. The easiest option is to buy what's known as an ETF an exchange-traded fund like SPY SPY. It trades like a stock, but it means you own a basket of stocks. In the case of SPY, the basket is made up of of America's largest companies. Sure, a few might struggle, but all probably aren't going to tank at the same time, so it helps lower the risk. Another common option is to buy the ETF of a sector of the economy such as QQQ QQQ for tech stocks or EEM EEM for emerging markets.

Buying individual stocks is riskier. If the stock falls, you can lose a lot of money. Of course, you also gain a lot of money if it goes up. The most popular stock by far is Apple. Other widely held ones are Facebook FB , Tech30 , GE GE and Disney DIS.

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How to Invest in Stocks (with Pictures) - wikiHow

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