Understand The Stock Market + Investing with Bola Sokunbi

It's another great interview! Listen in as Bola Sokunbi from Clever Girl Finance makes the daunting topic of investing approachable! For anyone who has been intimated by conversations about the stock market, this episode is for you!

• Side hustles: If you don’t think you have enough money to invest for retirement, think again. Side hustles can provide you with the extra money you need to start stashing cash. All you need is an extra $115 to $150 per week. If you want some ideas head to modernfrugality.com/bizideas for 10 simple business ideas you can start pretty quickly.
• Things I should understand by now but don’t: today’s sponsor is a bit more of a confession about things I don’t know like how electricity works, or how to navigate social media or what different cuts of meat are and how to use them! Nevertheless I can’t let my lack of knowledge keep me from living my life - so here’s to admitting what I don’t know and doing more research! Things I don’t know but should: i’m in my 30s and theres a lot i don’t know

• How did you get into investing? 
  • ‘Heard free money’ and got interested!
  • Made mistakes but was curious and asked questions
  • ‘Investing for dummies’
• What are the different types of stock market investments and which are best for beginners?
  • Knowledge - understanding how it works!
  • Invest in yourself with learning
  • Seek broad and diverse investments - minimize risk
  • Invest through your companies 401(k)
  • Automate investing - this can save money
  • Leverage index funds - broad diversification - find one that mimics S+P500
  • Max out 401K and IRA
  • Increase your investing by a percentage point each month and aim at maxing out these accounts
  • You don’t need to know/understand everything!
• Where should we go to purchase our investments? 
  • Go somewhere with good customer service and a good user interface
  • Go to your employer
  • Open up your own IRA - nonretirement accounts
    • Vanguard or Fidelity
    • Fractional investment (acorn, etc.)
  • Why is Robinhood not the best?
    • They focus a lot on individual stock investment
    • For beginners you want a lot of variety
    • Invest for retirement and longer term goals
• What types of accounts are best for investing?
  • 401K or 403B or 457 - all help save for retirement
    • Pick a few index funds or bonds
  • Open your own Roth or traditional IRA
    • Deposit regularly (consider automatic investment)
    • Be consistent over time (dollar cost averaging - don’t need to time the market - over time investments are likely to grow)
  • Brokerage account - not tied to investing - not penalized for taking money out prior to age 59 
    • Keep in mind about capital gains taxes!
    • Only rebalance about 1 time a year
• Tell us about your favorite fund portfolios.
  • Fidelity - retirement and non-retirement
    • Total market index funds
    • International funds
    • Bonds
    • Niche funds like healthcare and technology, ESI funds, property and development funds
  • Investing accounts for kids
    • Teaching them!

• Bola - channel handbag collection
• Jen- letting my 401(k) rollover sit in the brokerage account for a year
• Jill - not asking questions, and letting my embarrassment or lack of understanding be a barrier