Do you hate your after school job and wish there were easier ways to make money? In this article, I'll tell you how. In Part I of this article, you learned five rules to help you win at investing and dating. In Part II, I'm going to tell you the last five rules.
To start, let's review the definition of a stock again.
Stock - A way to own part of a company. Company stock, or shares, can be bought online through internet trading companies such as E-Trade or through an investment company. You can make money by buying shares of a company that you think will sell a lot of its product. Stocks can be as cheap as $1 a share or as expensive as $3000 for a single share. For example if you bought Apple around the time it started selling ipods, you could have bought 100 shares for about $800. At its high price this year, those same 100 shares would have been worth about $8,500, not too shabby a profit, right?
Okay, now for rules six through ten.
Rule Six: Sometimes you gotta think about things that everyone else thinks is "uncool" in a different way to realize how cool it really is.
I know, you're probably still thinking that investing is boring. But if someone gave you a trip to Vegas, you'd think that's rad, right? Most people think that gambling is cool. It's risky, it's dangerous, and it's fun, as long as you're not losing money. What if I told you there was a way to gamble where your chances of making money are ten, maybe a hundred times better than Vegas? That's what investing is.
Now think about the bad situations that come up in dating in a different way. Sometimes the guy or girl you're seeing may have a hobby that you hate but he or she still insists that you come along. You may dread going to do something you find utterly boring until you think of how doing so will score you lots of points with him or her. Pretty cool huh?
Rule Seven: It doesn't matter if you're broke now. You can start laying down the foundation to be successful today.
Even after reading this article, you still might think , "why learn about investing now? I don't have any money to invest. That's just stupid." But the time will come when you do have money to invest. Whether that's in college, or a couple of years after college. And if you learn now, when the time comes that you have a little extra money to buy some stocks you'll be ready. You wouldn't think about trying out for the swim team, the track team, or the basketball team without practicing and training before tryouts, would you? So you shouldn't think about buying stocks without training beforehand as well.
In dating, preparation is key also. You might think that you can't win over the boy or girl of your dreams because you're competing against some rich kid with a lot of money. But that's not true. Find out what her favorite flower is. Or who his favorite player in his favorite sport is. Give her her favorite flower. Give him a magazine with an article about his favorite player. True, they are tiny things, but I promise you, you'll discover that these tiny things go a long way.
Rule Eight: Spend your money wisely and you'll always creates a win-win situation.
It's a little known fact, but many professional athletes who were once stars are flat out broke just years after leaving the game, whether that game is basketball, baseball or football. Why? Because they were foolish with their money. I've read articles where some athletes say they never have less than $30,000 in their pocket. And they think nothing of blowing $10-15,000 in a single night at expensive clubs and restaurants. They spend all their money, don't invest any of it, and after making millions, retire broke.
This lesson will serve you well when it comes to dating as well. Most teenagers spend way too much energy trying to impress a girl or a guy by taking her out to expensive places. But face it, an expensive dinner is NOT going to make a girl or guy like you any more. Maybe for a couple hours, but nothing that will last. Instead, just do regular stuff with the person you like, such as going to the movies or going out for pizza. Then find out what he or she really digs and spend some of that extra money you saved to do little things for him or her. This will go a lot further in helping you develop a strong friendship with that special someone.
Rule Nine: Thinking different can help you not only in dating, but in investing and in life.
If you are reading this article, then already you think differently than most of your friends. Being interested in learning how to invest now when none of your friends are will serve you well later in college and after college. If you learn good strategies to invest now, you'll have to work less hard when you're older.
Thinking differently will help you in dating too. Instead of telling a guy or a girl who is fine that they are "hot", take a different approach. Chances are that they've already heard that comment a thousand times so you're not going to stand out. Try to find out what he or she likes to do, and try to find a way to talk to him or her about that instead. It'll make you stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Rule Ten: Persistence works. Really.
Persistently put away some money every week from your after school job or from your allowance into an investment fund. I know that all of your friends are spending every last dime on movies, fast food and at the mall right now, but you'll be glad later. Why? Because over time, when you learn to invest, this money could easily turn into three, four, five, or ten times as much over several years. Remember the Apple ipod example? And you won't even have to go to work to multiply your money. All you'll need to do is to learn how to invest.
This same persistence will serve you well when pursuing a girl or guy who is not being responsive to your interest. I'm not saying persistence works all the time. But it works more times than you probably think. Teenagers told me of too many situations where a girl had zero interest in a guy, but the guy kept pursuing her until he made her feel like the only girl on the planet, and they ended up going out together. It doesn't just happen in the movies. It happens in real life too.
© 2006 Global Market Opportunities
About the Author
This article may be freely reprinted on another website as long as the below author byline is included along with the active hyperlink exactly as is. To learn how to set up a practice investment account, click here, Teenagers: Learn to Invest and Make Money
