Is it a good idea to give your child money to invest in the stock market when they turn 19?

Depends on their intelligence.

I'd say most kids that young should not be making any type of financial decisions whether it's investments or even student loans until they've been out in the real world working, making money, and learning to manage their finances.

I don't see the need, the hardest part about investing money in the stock market is the having the money part. Better to teach the child to make money than give them money

It would be a WONDERFUL idea for a parent to show the young adult how to invest in his/her future.

So many people have no idea how to handle their finances.

1. at age 19 they are not kids, unless you teach them that they are...

2. many traders start at that age. so its no big deal really.

3. i woudln't throw a fraction of my family fortune at them unless i was rich...

4. I'd let them find their way in the real world.. and if i had connections, i'd still let them find their way, and perhaps make a few anonymous phone calls behind their backs for job interviews.. i'd want to make my kid think that they did it on their own, and that its their attitude and posture in life that determines the outcome... i wouldn't brainwash a kid any other way...

5. if you wanted to give them 5k pocket change, if it is, to show them how the stock markets work, just for fun, and how they crash, go for it! let them play the penny stocks.. but let me also tell you that many trading accounts can be test drived for 100k or so of fake money. so sign them up for one first...

6. if they have no inclination to study charts, tables, macroeconomics, political science, and intelligence reports, i would say, go get them a job at the local golf course instead...no point killing off what little self-esteem they have left..

Sure it is a good idea, with a little guidance on reading about the companies P/E ratios, Dividends, stock re-purchases, etc.. It is a very good educational tool.

That said, I got a share of Green Bay Packer stock for Christmas that I cannot re-sell, no appreciation, no dividend, yet is now one of my most treasured posesssions.

I began receiving stock and money for the purposes of saving and investing when I was about 5 years old. When I was 25, I'm 28 now, I began receiving what some would consider a significant inheritance as well, and I feel like I have managed that well, but mostly because of me not being shielded from financial responsibility during my up bringing. Regardless of where your blessings come from you MUST learn to count them, and this IS a hard lesson to learn, I do advise one starts early, and gives their children a good start as well.

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yeah do id he went to a public school right?

are you on your 3rd beer?

Only when he consistently turns profits on a demo account.

But yes, I do support introducing children as fast as possible to the money markets.

I agree 100%.

It would be better for him to loose real money, and feel the pain of loosing that opportunity. Demo accounts are better for 10 year old's not someone who is going to be on their own sooner then later.

You're better off going to vegas.

Both are the same thing.

R there parents that teach their children this crap?

I'm learning about it in my 30's LOL... i suck...

guess some families really are ahead of the game...

Mine did, and I'm certainly better for because of it.

Yeah, go ahead and teach your child that doing absolutely NOTHING is a worthwhile way to make your way in this world. Teach your child that he is SPECIAL and need never work a day in his life so long as his mommy and daddy are willing to fork over money they WORKED to obtain so he can sit on his ass and gamble.

If you want your child to become a spoiled, self-absorbed do nothing that believes sitting on one's ass and providing absolutely no benefit to any other human being then go right ahead and give him hard earned money to gamble with.

In fact, just take him to Vegas and give him the money and let him play Blackjack.

It's not "real" money when someone gave it to you. He'll piss away that "real" money and not feel and "real" loss because he didn't earn the money on his own.

anyone that invests in to the stock market (devoid of any price discovery mechanism) deserves to loose every penny they put into it.

Ask your self this question.

How will the retiring baby boomers (10,000 per day 7 days a week in the U.S. Alone) fund their retirement ?

By selling equities and real estate......................right.

Who has the money to buy the stocks that they are selling (thus supporting the present prices) ?

The younger generation ? How can they when they are upto their eyeballs in debt living in an underwater house ?

Who will buy the houses that the baby boomers are selling ?

Everyone is debt ridden and can't qualify for a home loan.

Think ..........man................Think..................!

That's why they will print money and inject it into the system until the cows come home !

Think !

Kind of like teaching a kid how to gamble & opress the less fortunate. I think it sends a bad message.

If you think any of that has anything to do with being a successful trader you are wrong. Money is made in markets today by teams of programmers and quants that play complex statistical games of math over various time windows. Picking stocks is sooooo 1950's you WILL lose your shirt, guaranteed.

Excuse me, but I have been given plenty of "real" money, probably more then you, much of the time I have used it wisely, other times not so much. The important lesson, in my opinion is to recognize what the money can and cannot do, realize the money is not what it represents, and ultimately that to be successful with money, one should arrange it such that the money is working for them, not the other way 'round.

Well ?

I disagree, although the game certainly is dominated in many sectors by the quants, I think you are missing the point, you can invest with out being an aggressive 'trader'
and more then beat inflation. If you lost allot of money its probably because you bit off more then you could chew.

Why so bitter?

This. Like buying your teenage kid a car, he/she will abuse the hell out of it 90% of the time. You really can't make wise decisions until you've got skin in the game. Gambling for example, you can play on free sights all you want and feel great about it but once you drop real money on chips, your betting strategy usually changes.

Sure, with their own money, otherwise they learn nothing.

Why not just bet all that money on black and try to double it?!

Yeah. Bad idea. Give them money to travel. World traveling is world experience that cannot be matched. Understanding other cultures will make your kid much stronger minded.

I was given my first car, which I abused and drove into the ground. I have abused all my cars and driven most of them into the ground. I believe this is why cars exist, primarily for me to use, enjoy and abuse. I have never become obsessed or sentimental about my vehicles and I feel like this is a good thing. Treating a car like some kind of special sacred object is a waste of my excitement.

If I had a kid, I'd probably attempt to teach them about precious metals, mines, and commodities. I'd teach them about there being macro-economic cycle wars between commodities and equities. I'd let them know about currency wars. i'd teach them that the roots of all wars are mostly behind commodities and cash flow. I'd teach them how corrupt the system is and i'd show them how good things like gold and silver are constantly being manipulated, and naked shorted, including people's hard-earned retirement fund. I would in short, teach them that its all one big ponzi scheme.

last but not least, I would show my kid that they can still invest in things, but nothing is guaranteed. i'd show them how to stash their money away carefully in commodities, how to suffer and hold, how to short sell, and then finally, let them loose on their own....

that's all you can do i think.. just show them as best you can that life is fundamentally unfair.. and if your wise, you might just preserve your wealth and maybe even come out on top...

And yet you believe someone would learn those lessons by frittering away a number on a computer screen while playing a computer game?