Stocks, company shares or equities, are one of the core investments many people use to grow their wealth and reach financial goals such as retirement and educational savings. But they’re not without risk and come with a wide range of benefits and drawbacks.
Stock markets are places where anyone can buy and sell fractional ownership in a publicly traded company. The value of a stock depends on demand and supply, which is determined by hundreds of millions of individual investors making buying and selling decisions that impact the market. Companies list shares on an exchange through a process known as an initial public offering, or IPO.
A stock’s price rises when a business grows sales and profits, or when the market perceives its future prospects as favorable. Shares can also drop when a business struggles or the market views its prospects as less positive. When a stock’s price rises more than the purchase price, it’s considered a capital gain. Stocks can also pay dividends, which are payments made to shareholders from a company’s earnings.
The stock market is a powerful tool that can increase your wealth and even outpace inflation, but it’s not right for everyone. You should weigh your goals, your tolerance for risk and your time horizon to determine whether stocks are the best fit for you. And don’t forget that a well-diversified portfolio should include a mix of assets, including stocks and other investments such as bonds and real estate.
While some investors try to pick individual stocks, experts say focusing too much on stock picking can lead to disappointment and discourage you from investing altogether. Instead, focus on building a portfolio of companies big and small across industries and geographies to help mitigate risks.
There are two main types of stocks, common and preferred. Common stocks are the most popular and provide shareholders with proportional ownership of a company, along with voting rights. Preferred stocks, on the other hand, don’t give shareholders any voting rights.
Despite their volatility, stocks have historically outperformed other investment options such as bonds and savings accounts. That’s because they have the potential to grow in value over time and often have higher return rates than other investments.
That doesn’t mean that stocks are guaranteed to grow in value, however. Stocks can decline in value for a variety of reasons, from global economic conditions to specific events such as natural disasters or political instability. That’s why it’s important to diversify your portfolio by adding stocks from a range of different sectors, and by investing in both U.S. and international stocks. This will help ensure that, if the market crashes or an individual company experiences a setback, your overall portfolio can withstand the losses.