Start a Dividend Reinvestment Plan

https://www-us.computershare.com/Investor/#DirectStock

You can start pretty low, and then contribute $50 per month. We selected a stock that charges him NO FEES so his $50 buys $50 worth of stock, and his purchases are at a 2% discount to market fair value on the day of purchase.

My son started one in August of 2021 with an investment of $500. He invested $50 per month starting in September.

Is he rich? No.

Is he losing money? No. You only lose money when you sell at a loss. He has not sold.

Is he building an asset? Yes.

Is he learning about the power of compounding interest? Yes.

if my math holds(multiplication in my head), he invested 14 months * $50 = $700.

He started with $500.

Total so far $1200.

Account is worth $1,117.95.

Technically, he is losing money, but he started when the market was HOT, so his buy to open the account was at $52 per share or something. Now, he is dollar cost averaging by buying shares as the price declines. His last purchase was at $41 per share.

In 40 years, he will have invested $24,500 of his own money. The account should be worth around $190,000. This assumes 8% growth per year, the historical S&P 500 rate of return.

Investing can be very boring. But if you look at the long term effect, the payoff can be pretty good.