I'll agree with AtlantaSports on this one. I think it's great to have all these services available, but crazy and unnecessary levels of spending aren't required for them to exist. The current mindset that I see in a lot of places (not just America, but especially there) is "must have this and must have this and must have them all NOW. Here is my credit card!" It makes no sense when you think about it, people spending money on pretty much useless crap that they can't afford. At some point it will come back to bite them in the ass. And then it will also bite the bigger corporations in the ass since their customers are broke and their credit card is maxed which means no more spending.
And a new crop of people turn 18 every year. This has been going on since WW2, and has only accelerated as electronics have become everyday items. There are a lot of things you can say about it. Personally I think it was the end of the era where people said ´I want my children to have a better life than I had´... that basically ended with the WW2 generation.. now everyone just wants to buy everything under the sun. Yes, we want our kids to have a good life, but that doesn´t mean we are going to not buy that 60 inch TV and put the money in a savings account for them. The same thing that made the USA an economic powerhouse also turned individuals into cash-strapped people living in debt.
I think that's the main concern with most of us. I'm only 19, I never bought stocks. My family has never bought stocks, no one I know buys stocks and I believe it's because of the fear and mis-education we get about them. While I was in high school business class we were taught that buying stocks is a tremendously competitive things to do, and that most of us would end up loosing money than actually getting any money from the stocks. We weren't even taught what stocks were. Even now, no one has actually taught me anything about stocks and I still wouldn't buy any because such a harsh image was burned into my brain as a child. I think I'd consider it if someone were to answer these questions for me. 1. What are stocks. 2. What's the point in buying stocks? 3. If a stock's percentage goes down, do you lose money? 4. How do you lose money? 5. How do you gain money? 6. Where can you purchase stocks? 7. Do you need to maintain stocks? 8. Are there any monthly or annual fees? 9. Can a normal middle class American handle a stock? 10. What do you get out of it? 11. What is the best kind of stocks to buy? Those are essentially my main concerns about stocks, and I feel most people where I live feel the same way. If it's a great way to get money then I would really consider but so far it's just been irrational fears.
See that has always been my problem. With almost every single job I've applied for. I live in Hawaii and speak Japanese. Our main income as an island is tourism. Surprisingly most of our tourists are Japanese and have trouble understanding let alone speaking English. So I apply at all different hotels and tour companies. Usually they really like my personalty and me being bilingual. Then comes along a 50 year old woman who has been working in the hotel as a manager for 30 years and does NOT speak a drop of Japanese and gets the job. Meanwhile I'm more qualified for the position. I can see your point totally.
Well just sounds like this was more about trying to teach you about short term / day trading than actual long term investing. Yeah the system definitely looks like it needs a lot of improvements.
The first thing to know about stocks is that they are not a get rich quick scheme. The second thing to know is what typical success really is. If you gain 10% in a year, you are doing awesome. If you gain 3%, you are doing C+ If you are thinking of investing and looking for homeruns with every investment, you are going to get scammed and/or lose most of your money. 1. What are stocks? A stock share is a tiny portion of a company. A company may have 20 million shares, and you buy 100 of them. 2. What's the point in buying stocks? Two main things. First is because you think in the future your share will be more valuable than it is today. You own a small part of a company, and you can sell that small part later. Also some companies pay a dividend to their owners(you) if they have excess cash. They just give you cash. 3. If a stock's percentage goes down, do you lose money? Only if you sell when it is down. Imagine you buy something for $100. The next day everyone else is selling the exact same item for $90. In a way, you can say you lost 10%, but that isn´t true unless you sell the item. There is a chance on the 3rd day the item goes to $110 and you can sell for a $10 profit. 4. How do you lose money? Selling a stock for less than you paid for it 5. How do you gain money? Selling a stock for more than you paid for it, also collecting dividends. 6. Where can you purchase stocks? Online brokers. You basically transfer money to their account, and then buy stocks using that money. 7. Do you need to maintain stocks? No, your brokers hold the actual certificates for you. It is all ´virtual´. 8. Are there any monthly or annual fees? Very rarely, just use one of the big online brokerages and the only fee you will pay is about $5 everytime you buy a stock and $5 every time you sell a stock. 9. Can a normal middle class American handle a stock? If you have $500, you can invest. I wouldn´t invest with less than $500 because the costs of trading will eat into your profit. For instance, if you invest $100, and have to pay $5 fee to buy, and then $5 fee to sell, that means your stock needs to go up to $110 for you to even break even... and 10% is not easy overcome. That $5 fee is the same if you invest $100 or $10,000 so as a percentage it is much easier to eat the fee on larger investments. 10. What do you get out of it? Money and for most of us, fun. In a way, it is a really complex and fun game. 11. What is the best kind of stocks to buy? If you are new, big companies that you have heard of. Things to avoid are fad type companies
I think this really just comes down to bad management. Anyone can write 30 years experience, doesn't mean it's even true since employers usually don't verify. I can't tell you how many times of seen people gain position based on their 'experience' only for the employer to later found out there is a reason why this person doesn't do a good job. Any hardworking employee can be taught and sculpted into one of the best. It's the ones who just go through the motions that are the poor candidates. They never even try to improve.
Employers SHOULD verify it if they are hiring based on that information. Anyone who hires 1 person over another because "ohh he worked there for the past 5 years" should at least send a quick email or make a call to see if it's true and get a bit more information. That is the JOB of hiring managers and anyone not doing this isn't really doing their job.
That is true and I do know quite a few people who make up professional experience and many times that is not verified. Either cases, as for the stock market, it's not that simple for those outside, it's a different world.
There are certainly cases where people sneak by, but I think that is the rare exception. And certainly some people fudge some stuff on their resume´, but I don´t think it happens very frequently. People are being paid to verify people´s backgrounds and work experience, and it is very easy to do.. someone would be risking a cozy HR job instead of making a couple phone calls?
