Nathan finally did it.\u00a0 He bought his first shares of a public company.\u00a0 Not the company he was orignially looking at.\u00a0 That was Pacsun and those shares have tripled in value in the few months he waited.\u00a0No, instead, he\u00a0bought\u00a0several shares of Walmart.\u00a0 He likes how environmentally conscious\u00a0they are\u00a0and believes that they can have a big impact in this area.<\/p>\n
I like that he’s given serious thought to his investment.\u00a0\u00a0 And I like that it is in concert with his value system.\u00a0 He’s concerned about the environment and sees that Walmart has taken climate shift seriously.\u00a0 Although, no doubt, the bottom line plays a role here, we still all benefit.<\/p>\n
Buying his first shares was a big deal.\u00a0 He’s a pretty conservative investor because he works hard for his money.\u00a0 And we all know that on the risk continuum, stocks are at the risky end.\u00a0 It’s all about how much risk you’re willing to take on.<\/p>\n
Mutual funds are less risky and the boys have been steadily adding to their Vanguard 500 Index fund since 2005.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0But after one of my money classes last year, they have both been interested in testing the stock market waters.\u00a0 \u00a0The trick is to decide the balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the boys are still in their teens, their time horizon is longer than it is for me and John.\u00a0\u00a0 So they can take bigger risks than we can.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Although Ryan’s company stocks take up 13% of his portfolio\u00a0and Nathan’s only takes up 8%, they both only recently began investing this way so they are taking it slow.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, as Nathan learned, taking it too slow can mean lost opportunities.\u00a0 What they need to do now is decide how much of their portfolio will be in individual stocks and begin the balancing act.\u00a0 This will give a pretty clear picture of where each sits on the risk continuum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what a great position to be in.\u00a0 Teenagers armed with information that can shape their financial life 30 years from now.\u00a0 If only I knew then what I know now…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nathan finally did it.\u00a0 He bought his first shares of a public company.\u00a0 Not the company he was orignially looking at.\u00a0 That was Pacsun and those shares have tripled in value in the few months he waited.\u00a0No, instead, he\u00a0bought\u00a0several shares of Walmart.\u00a0 He likes how environmentally conscious\u00a0they are\u00a0and believes that they can have a big impact in this area. I like that he’s given serious thought to his investment.\u00a0\u00a0 And I like that it is in concert with his value…<\/p>\n