what are your opinions on buying 'stocks' ? Is it worth it with 500$? or nah ?
I love how you put stocks in quotes like it's some new concept and not one of the most popular investment options.
The higher likelihood of doubling your money comes with an increased risk of losing more than anticipated. That, plus investing in the stock market generally takes a while to double your money. Look at the Rule of 72:
The 'Rule of 72' is a simplified way to determine how long an investment will take to double, given a fixed annual rate of interest. By dividing 72 by the annual rate of return, investors can get a rough estimate of how many years it will take for the initial investment to duplicate itself.
So if you invest in something offering a 14.4% rate of return year over year, it will still take five years to double your money.
I put $10,000 into VTSAX on a whim last September after the stock took a month-long slow dive. It quickly picked up steam, and I was looking at a 10% return within a few weeks of investment. But like any stock, there is going to be ups and downs. The stock slid and for a little while my investment was returning negative for a bit (under $10,000).
By the end of 365 days, though, I was looking at a return of a little over 10%. Or $1,000 or so without touching it. Putting that into perspective, I was basically getting free Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Pandora One, Amazon Prime, and my twice-a-week Starbucks for that year.
It's currently sitting at $11,799.37, so since investment a little under 18% return. It's been about 14 months. I'll take that.