Learn how to build a retail investing toolkit

Explore a step-by-step guide for getting started as a retail investor

Instead of purchasing individual stocks and bonds, new investors may want to start in funds that track an index—like the S&P 500—or that hold a group of themed stocks.

Retail investors are not professionals—they invest their own money

For retail investors, the stakes may seem higher and more personal. Critics say that this dynamic means that retail investors are more susceptible to behavioral biases that could lead them to make poor decisions when it comes to buying and selling assets. For instance, fear of missing out could cause a retail investor to buy a stock that is popular but not a financially worthy investment.

Retail investing by the numbers

When average Americans began pouring into the stock market, Wall Street wasn’t sure if its new guests were there to stay. But at the end of 2023, Public confidently declared that retail investors “weren’t going anywhere” after 30 million new individuals began buying and selling stock. Download the report to learn more here.

Look inside a retail investor's portfolio

Online investing platform eToro conducted a survey of retail investors in June 2024. It explored what assets they held and what types of stocks they liked to purchase. The most commonly held asset was cash, with 76% of retail investors holding cash in their portfolios. The next most popular asset was domestic stocks, with 49% of investors.

Electronic trading transformed investing, ushering in a new era for retail investors in which average Americans could research stocks online and then use early platforms like StreetSmart and E-Trade to conduct their transactions

In the early 1990s, stock brokerages knew that online trading would be a great equalizer, creating opportunities for more individuals to buy and sell stocks.

Retail investors cannot directly invest in private credit funds—but other financial vehicles can offer exposure to the industry

For example, as some US regulations have loosened in recent years, retail investors have begun to get exposure to the private credit market via ETFs that invest in publicly traded financial vehicles with private credit exposure, such as BDCs.

Addressing psychological barriers to building wealth

Almost half of adults in the US report owning no investable assets. For many, the barrier to entry is the belief that investing is too complex for them to get involved. Consulting with a financial psychologist, this article addresses the cognitive bias that causes so many people to miss out on financial opportunities, and offers tips on how to get past the anxieties and just begin.

Retail investors can get exposure to commodities via various financial vehicles

While retail investors likely won't go out and purchase a bushel of commodity wheat to trade, they can get exposure to the commodities market via commodity ETFs sold on traditional stock exchanges like the NYSE and Nasdaq and other financial vehicles. There are benefits to adding commodities to a retail investor portfolio (such as a hedge against inflation and a typically low correlation with more traditional asset prices), experts caution that commodities are usually volatile investments.

A beginner's guide to online stock trading

For beginners, the first step to trading stocks online is finding a good broker.

Play a game that reveals if investors with a crystal ball make better trades

The "crystal ball" game reveals how well you would do trading stocks and bonds if you could see the front page of the Wall Street Journal one day in advance.

The do's and don'ts of using AI to manage your finances

Experts suggest avoiding asking AI for investment advice, but say it's useful for basic budgeting help. Read this article to learn more.

The best investing advice for new college grads

While new college graduates typically don't have much money to invest, creating a plan for the money they earn from their first job can set them up for a promising financial future. This list of investing advice for new grads includes recommendations like enrolling in their company's retirement plan as soon as possible, prioritizing building an emergency fund, and more. Read the full list here.

How to put on a hedge

These days, hedging your portfolio isn’t just for hedge fund managers. An explainer from Robinhood delves into what a hedged position actually is, why traders put on hedges, and how you, too, can work to guard your holdings against a market downturn. The idea is to derive gains from your portfolio when markets are trending up, down, or sideways.

Can random investments outperform managed funds?

The biggest selling point of mutual funds is they're usually actively managed. Depending on your investment strategy, this could be a breaking point. This podcast episode includes a conversation with a Wall Street Journal columnist about why one-off investments are sometimes better for your portfolio than an actively managed investment.

Hear a finance professor answer questions about investing

From stocks and index funds to gold, a business professor at Duke University answers questions from the internet about investing.

Compare different mutual funds

Figure out what type of mutual fund is right for you with this tool. Use the search bar to find info on any mutual fund. If you’re deciding between multiple funds, you can select them all to get a comparative analysis on rates, fees, and returns.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Angels invest in a mix of startups from different industries

To diversify their portfolios and mitigate their risk, angels may invest in startups that are at earlier or later stages of development, as well as in various industries.

Seven early retirement lessons

After one year of retirement under his belt, financial publication Kiplinger's former editor has learned some lessons. Specifically, in this article, he shares his best early retirement advice, from when it makes sense to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth in early retirement, to how to prepare for retirement from a psychological perspective. Read more here.

40 key stock market terms, explained

Liquidity. Forex. Capitalization. Blue chip stocks. These are just a few pieces of stock market vocabulary most people who don't spend all day on a trading floor might not know. Thankfully, we found a fun infographic that makes it easier to learn what 40 key stock market terms mean and why each of them matters.

Value investing seeks to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth

Value investing specifically focuses on fundamentals like earnings, assets, and price-to-earnings ratios. In contrast, growth investing targets companies with rapid future potential, often trading at higher valuations. Both strategies offer unique paths to returns.

Warren Buffett’s investing advice includes never paying too high a price for any investment

Buffett is perhaps the greatest investor of all time, and his investing philosophies are highly regarded and practiced around the world. His advice also includes investing in productive assets (like stocks, bonds, and real estate) and imagining what could go wrong before thinking about how much money you could make.

How university endowments invest in the capital markets

This PitchBook article explores how university endowments invest in capital markets to support their institutions. It explains how endowments are structured and managed to generate returns that fund scholarships, research, and operations. The piece also discusses the evolution of endowment investment strategies. This is a valuable read for understanding the financial mechanisms behind academic endowments.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Ray Dalio started his career as a golf caddy in Long Island

When Dalio was 12 years old, he worked as a golf caddy at the Links Golf Club. That's where he heard about the stock market for the first time and decided to invest in Northeast Airlines—the only stock he knew that was selling for less than $5 a share. Dalio ended up tripling his profit and became fascinated with the stock market—ultimately laying the foundation for his legendary career as a hedge fund manager.

A certificate of deposit (CD) strategy guide

Popular CD investment strategies include the ladder, barbell, and bullet methods. These strategies can help you get the most out of investing in CDs.

The 60/40 method says to allocate 60% of your portfolio to stocks, and 40% to bonds

The 60/40 method used to be the golden rule when planning for retirement, as stocks are more lucrative and bonds are more reliable. However, it isn’t necessarily the go-to recommendation anymore.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

Watch how algorithms can be designed to train themselves and self-improve without human input, to the point where the optimized code is too complex for programmers to understand.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Telehealth demand for GLP-1s for weight loss is booming as consumers seek easier access.

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

Doctors differentiate between a phobia and fear by asking patients whether their fear interferes with their day-to-day activities.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.