I use Robinhood with a small amount of money that I am 100% ok losing. I hold a small number of tech stocks to keep me invested in their movements. Some of them have turned out better (nvidia) than others (twitter). But it does help me follow the news from those companies a little better.
Agreed that owning stocks will keep you more engaged with what is happening in the business world, but you'll need super human discipline to not act on the news. Wells Fargo, for example, is now trading at an all time high despite being involved in recent massive consumer fraud.
Please do not do this, it is never OK to loose money, better give the money to charity and sign for a fantasy portfolio and get your news and trills there...
What you just said introduces a bit of a conflict with your claim that strategy is important. Sometimes you need to take calculated risks (i.e. always be reasonable, don't lose all of your assets, don't get addicted) and 'lose' money to learn how to make more money.
I think it is very noble of you to weigh your needs against the needs of others. Charity and how you should exercise it is a very interesting subject, and there are many many ways to do it optimally. See Givewell, Watsi, Mindsmatter etc. Since you are reading this, I assume you are doing reasonably well in life, so, and this is my personal view btw, you do need to give something back to those in need. However, don't let that prevent you from investing in your own education - it will very likely enable you to do more.
Yep, let me clarify, it is never OK to loose money due stupidity, not knowing what you are doing, praying the market will turn around, etc.
If you have a proper risk management and investing strategy, yes, you will have many periods and trades where you are going to loose money short term, but you'll be confident that you'll make the money back + more, because you did back test everything and you have the proof your strategy works...
