How Old Must You Be to Invest in Stocks?

Video Transcript

"My name's Phillip Beningoso. I'm an investment professional, and I'm going to be discussing how old you have to be to invest in stocks. There's really two basic answers to this question. One being congratulations, you've turned 18 years old, and now, you're interested in opening up a brokerage account for yourself. And you can do that at the age of majority, 18 years of age, you can open up a brokerage or an IRA type of an account. Covers the full gambit where you can purchase pretty much any type of security, such as stocks, preferred stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and a slew of other investments. But to actually get the physical certificates, those can be placed in a newborn. So the answer, really, is at any age. Somebody can get those certificates for a baby and have them put in the baby's name, and then to be able to cash in those certificates, a uniform gift to minors account or a custodial type of an account needs to be opened so the securities can be liquidated. It's a very simple process. To open up a brokerage account, you just go to a brokerage firm and fill out some documentation or you could do that online with many different firms. Open up the account, mail in a check to fund it, and then purchase the stock of your choice or the security of your choice. For a minor, they get the certificates, they're going to have to mail that in to the brokerage firm, which should be mailed and registered. And then the brokerage firm will put that in an account and you can sell it and withdraw the funds at any time that you'd like. Any information provided here is for informational purposes only and should not be considered an individualized recommendation or personalized investment advice. Any investments or strategies mentioned here may not be suitable for everyone. My name's Phillip Beningoso, and I'm an investment professional."