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I finally bought my first stock through an app, remembering when my uncle used to call his broker. | Investing For Beginners - Vivisector

parkerbailey•7mo ago

I finally bought my first stock through an app, remembering when my uncle used to call his broker.

Back in the day, my uncle would call his broker for every trade. Now I can do it from my couch in seconds. Some folks argue that the personal advice was worth the cost, while others say apps make investing open to everyone. I'm split on whether we've gained more than we've lost. What's your take on old school vs. new school investing?

4 comments

4 Comments

charlie6257mo ago

Ngl @the_wendy has a point about those old brokers. Apps are just faster ways to win or lose on your own.

the_wendy7mo ago

Remember your uncle's broker was probably some guy in a bad suit making cold calls between martinis. Now it's just you and a phone screen, which is fine because most "personal advice" back then was just pushing whatever got the broker a vacation. Sure, apps let people do dumb stuff faster, but let's be real, the average person picking stocks is just guessing anyway. The whole debate feels like arguing over two different ways to lose money, just with different levels of polish.

jackson.mark7mo ago

Lost about $500 chasing hype on Robinhood in 2021. I moved to Vanguard and set up automatic monthly buys into a total market fund. Now I save 10% of my paycheck without thinking, and it's up 15% overall. Why stress over picks when time in the market works?

the_seth7mo ago

That line about time in the market really hits home. I had a friend who went all in on meme stocks, think he bought GameStop at the peak because of some Reddit post. He lost like two grand in a week, and it was all his savings from his summer job. He kept trying to make it back by chasing more hype, which just dug the hole deeper. Finally his dad sat him down and showed him how just putting a little bit into the S&P 500 every month adds up over years. Now he does that and doesn't even look at his account much, and he's way better off.