Investing

by Alvin Toh

Investment clubs are a fantastic way to get kids to learn about investments at a young age, while not boring them to death. It is possible to start your own student investment club if you are a teacher, or you can do a similar thing for your own child. Kids can learn about money and making decisions by being a part of student investment club.

Starting a student investment club begins with the desire to invest. An adult should start and run the club and provide structure and guidance along the way. Properly used, however, the student investment club will be a good learning experience for everyone.

1. Start with a simple goal - to give kids limited participation in searching and choosing stocks to invest. Make sure all of the children have their parent’s consent to join and be involved in the club. You should come up with weekly goals on investing.

2. Determine the rules and follow them. These can help to keep the club and members in order. Make sure the rules clear and easy to understand to the children.

3. Limit the investments. Children have limited funds so there should be low limits on the participation requirements as well as limits to the amount the child can invest. Get the buy-in of the parents before you begin. Always consider the amount of money available to students before you choose investments.

4. Make investments fun. The idea of investments can seem somewhat a dreary subject. Spice it up by allowing kids to invest in companies that they know or have heard about. Think about popular toy or video game companies, food or restaurant companies or clothing companies. Investing in a stodgy company they never heard of and don’t know the nature of business will make the club boring and kids will lose interest quickly.

5. Encourage children to invest their own money. When they use their own money, they would be much more involved and interested in investing.

6. Invite guest speakers. Whenever possible try to add interest by inviting guest speakers to meetings with the students. Find members of the local community to speak such as investment bankers, finance counselors or accountants.

7. If you have a large group of children, split them into more smaller groups. Each group can form an investment corporation where members vote and decide on investment options.

8. Teach your students to track the progress of their investments by using graphs and charts. Keep up to date with current market changes in the newspaper or on the television. Then decide on a day of the week when you will sit down and review the investment performance.

About the Author:

Investment clubs have grown tremendously in recent years, including student investment clubs. Young kids are being encouraged to learn about investing at home and in school. Learn more about joining or starting an investment club at