Investment

If you invest in the markets, the first two months of 2018 showcased the true rollercoaster nature of the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500. After breaking record after record in 2017, the markets entered 2018 on a tear. However, February 2018 brought sharp drops as the markets officially entered correction territory.

All investments come with some level of risk. When you entrust your money to the market, you risk losing all of it or accumulating very small gains if your funds are directed toward ultra-conservative risks with low, but guaranteed, growth over time. Assessing how much risk you can afford to take is an important part of investing, but how do you go about doing so?

With any loan or investment process, such as buying a car or opening a 401(k) for retirement, investors are going to hear about interest rates in regards to the money they are spending. An interest rate is best thought of as the cost of borrowing money, or conversely, the compensation one party receives for the service and risk of lending money to another party.

There's no set age at which Americans should start investing. For most people, it's a matter of having the financial stability to cover important obligations such as rent, car payments, and grocery bills, with just enough left over after spending their fun money to set some aside for retirement.