How to Teach Your Kid about Stock Market Trading %page

How to Teach Your Kid about Stock Market Trading

Posted by Sophie Egge on July 25, 2011 Leave a comment (0) Go to comments

Everyone should know how the stock market works There is something called the Stock Market game and I have it in the past to teach junior high school students about the subject. I arranged for them to gain access to the stock market game. I’ll explain what it is and how not only your kids also you can learn how the stock market works without risking a penny of your own money until you are ready to jump in.

Simulated Stock Market Trading By using a simulated account to trade stocks in exactly the same way that adults do, kids can learn the business. The game tracks their trades in real time, using the actual tickers from the NYSE, Nasdaq and Amex exchanges and it allows them to buy and sell as well as selling short (where you sell a stock you don’t own with the promise to deliver by a certain date, the idea being that you think the value of the stock will go down in value).

Start With $100,000 Each kid started with $100,000 of virtual money and goal of the game was to make the most virtual money of anyone. The winners would get a prize of some kind. The game is still available, though you can’t sign up for it yourself. Your kid’s school has to sign up and arrange for the kids to play the game in the computer room.

Some States Provide Funding The nice thing is that some states fully fund the Stock Market Game allowing any accredited school to apply to the program; you simply have to get some other parents together to petition the school to do it. In other cases, the cost is a few hundred dollars for the year, which when split amongst the parents of all the kids in a class comes out to just a few dollars for the year to teach your kids valuable life skills about stock market trading.

It Can Be Done At Home I did some research recently, wondering if there was an adult version of the stock market game. Not only is there one, there are dozens. Some of them are free, though I still encourage you to arrange for your kids to do it in school if possible rather than having them do it at home. When it’s a school project, they’ll compare notes with their friends and get into it. If it’s something they do at home when none of their friends are doing it, they’ll quickly get bored and look for something else to do.

Great For Adults Though While I don’t recommend having your kids learn stock market trading at home, I do recommend you try it on your own. One of the best that I found is offered by Investopedia. It includes the same virtual $100,000 that your kids can get. It’s a great way to learn about stock market trading. This is a painless what to learn the business without risking your hard-earned money.