My Approach to Investing
For a long time, my only investing was through regular 401K contributions through payroll deductions. Recently, I made a brokerage account through Wells Fargo and I've started to dabble in stocks.
First of all, let me point out that I am not a financial advisor. I am not equipped to give financial advice. You're welcome to follow my methods, but I cannot guarantee profit or financial success. This is simply what I've chosen to do with some discretionary funds.
I've always treated the stock market as something like legal gambling. Yes, I realize that the market tends to increase over time, and that investing your money properly will make it grow while leaving it as cash in checking and savings account will lose value due to inflation. The problem is I don't know how to properly invest.
My 401K seemed like a safe bet, and a reasonable way to prepare for retirement. I contribute some from my paycheck before I ever see it, and my employer matches that. It's a great way for me to maximize what I'm getting from my employer, and it gives me some certainty that I'll get to retire eventually.
Recently, I worked with someone who was basically a day trader between work assignments. He brought a tablet into the office and had it set up with market alerts. When he wasn't actively helping users, he was buying low and selling high. Supposedly, he made a decent chunk of money that way, but I just never trusted my ability to profit off stock trading. I tried flipping items in RuneScape at one point and nearly always lost money in the process.
My opinion started to change when my old boss told me that he likes to purchase stock of whatever company he currently works for so that he has more incentive to pay attention to the performance of the business. It's easy to ignore how the company is doing if you're removed from the volatility of the market. If you have real dollars on the line, you tend to care a bit more about that performance beyond its ability to provide you a stable income.
My interest grew further when representatives from our parent company spoke at the annual meeting. They talked about how their stocks were highly sought after for their value in providing dividends. I learned then that stock shares were included as part of the compensation package for our own company's executives.
At this point, I was sold. I needed to start buying stocks. I just had to figure out how. Robinhood seemed like the darling of the internet, especially in the wake of the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021. Still, I didn't want to throw money into a platform I knew nothing about, and risk being unable to pull it back out.
After some research, I discovered that Wells Fargo supported brokerage accounts that I could open for free. As a current customer, I was already bought into the company and regularly used their app and online services. What was one more account? Especially if I could easily transfer funds between my checking account and my brokerage account, it seemed like the best option.
In January 2025, I opened a WellsTrade Brokerage Account and put twenty bucks in. I promptly bought one share of MFA Financial Inc (NYSE: MFA). At just over $10, I couldn't quite buy two shares. I moved another $2 into the brokerage account and bought one more share.
The process of buying stocks was oddly exhilarating. I've spent much more than $22 on much stupider things, and it wasn't like I was genuinely gambling. Realistically, I bought those shares knowing that I *could* sell them, but never actually planning to. If they continue to pay good dividends, I just want to hang onto the shares and take the passive income.
During the following year, I ended up buying a few more shares of MFA, but I've also started to branch out some. It occurred to me that if Lima One Capital was doing poorly enough that they had to lay people off, maybe MFA wasn't the best basket to put all my eggs in. I decided to pick up a share of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to get into the automotive industry.
Obviously, if I'm not planning on selling, the buy low/sell high tactic isn't going to work very well. Because of that, I focus on stocks that pay good dividends, and ideally pay them reliably. I stumbled across a site that allows you to research stocks and sort them by various categories. In particular, you can order by "high-dividend," sorting based on "Div yield % (indicated)." I still only have a passing understanding of these terms right now, but I think that has to do with the amount of the dividend that the company plans to pay as compared to the price per share.
Right now, it's a low investment, low stakes way to play around with the stock market. My entire brokerage account is currently only worth $81.30, and I could sell those shares and liquidate that to cash if I really wanted to. I wouldn't want to put a ton of money into this, especially with something I know so little about, but I've wasted more money on pointless things before. At worst, this is education and entertainment.
Over time, I want to start investing more money with more intent. Once I get another job (yes, I'm still a bum), I want to contribute maybe $5 a week to the brokerage account to play with. I spend more than that on drive-thru coffee, and if the market treats me well, I could potentially make money from it.
Eventually, I want a diverse portfolio with dividend stocks from a variety of industries. If business purpose mortgage lending goes to seed, I want to be insulated from that loss with my other stocks. Some are inevitably going to be a bust, but over enough different organizations, I should be able to net a healthy profit.
I'm not going to start preaching about "passive income sources" and promoting pyramid schemes, but investment seems like a good hobby to get into. If it made billions for people like Warren Buffett, maybe I can get a piece of that pie for myself.
First of all, let me point out that I am not a financial advisor. I am not equipped to give financial advice. You're welcome to follow my methods, but I cannot guarantee profit or financial success. This is simply what I've chosen to do with some discretionary funds.
I've always treated the stock market as something like legal gambling. Yes, I realize that the market tends to increase over time, and that investing your money properly will make it grow while leaving it as cash in checking and savings account will lose value due to inflation. The problem is I don't know how to properly invest.
My 401K seemed like a safe bet, and a reasonable way to prepare for retirement. I contribute some from my paycheck before I ever see it, and my employer matches that. It's a great way for me to maximize what I'm getting from my employer, and it gives me some certainty that I'll get to retire eventually.
Recently, I worked with someone who was basically a day trader between work assignments. He brought a tablet into the office and had it set up with market alerts. When he wasn't actively helping users, he was buying low and selling high. Supposedly, he made a decent chunk of money that way, but I just never trusted my ability to profit off stock trading. I tried flipping items in RuneScape at one point and nearly always lost money in the process.
My opinion started to change when my old boss told me that he likes to purchase stock of whatever company he currently works for so that he has more incentive to pay attention to the performance of the business. It's easy to ignore how the company is doing if you're removed from the volatility of the market. If you have real dollars on the line, you tend to care a bit more about that performance beyond its ability to provide you a stable income.
My interest grew further when representatives from our parent company spoke at the annual meeting. They talked about how their stocks were highly sought after for their value in providing dividends. I learned then that stock shares were included as part of the compensation package for our own company's executives.
At this point, I was sold. I needed to start buying stocks. I just had to figure out how. Robinhood seemed like the darling of the internet, especially in the wake of the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021. Still, I didn't want to throw money into a platform I knew nothing about, and risk being unable to pull it back out.
After some research, I discovered that Wells Fargo supported brokerage accounts that I could open for free. As a current customer, I was already bought into the company and regularly used their app and online services. What was one more account? Especially if I could easily transfer funds between my checking account and my brokerage account, it seemed like the best option.
In January 2025, I opened a WellsTrade Brokerage Account and put twenty bucks in. I promptly bought one share of MFA Financial Inc (NYSE: MFA). At just over $10, I couldn't quite buy two shares. I moved another $2 into the brokerage account and bought one more share.
The process of buying stocks was oddly exhilarating. I've spent much more than $22 on much stupider things, and it wasn't like I was genuinely gambling. Realistically, I bought those shares knowing that I *could* sell them, but never actually planning to. If they continue to pay good dividends, I just want to hang onto the shares and take the passive income.
During the following year, I ended up buying a few more shares of MFA, but I've also started to branch out some. It occurred to me that if Lima One Capital was doing poorly enough that they had to lay people off, maybe MFA wasn't the best basket to put all my eggs in. I decided to pick up a share of Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) to get into the automotive industry.
Obviously, if I'm not planning on selling, the buy low/sell high tactic isn't going to work very well. Because of that, I focus on stocks that pay good dividends, and ideally pay them reliably. I stumbled across a site that allows you to research stocks and sort them by various categories. In particular, you can order by "high-dividend," sorting based on "Div yield % (indicated)." I still only have a passing understanding of these terms right now, but I think that has to do with the amount of the dividend that the company plans to pay as compared to the price per share.
Right now, it's a low investment, low stakes way to play around with the stock market. My entire brokerage account is currently only worth $81.30, and I could sell those shares and liquidate that to cash if I really wanted to. I wouldn't want to put a ton of money into this, especially with something I know so little about, but I've wasted more money on pointless things before. At worst, this is education and entertainment.
Over time, I want to start investing more money with more intent. Once I get another job (yes, I'm still a bum), I want to contribute maybe $5 a week to the brokerage account to play with. I spend more than that on drive-thru coffee, and if the market treats me well, I could potentially make money from it.
Eventually, I want a diverse portfolio with dividend stocks from a variety of industries. If business purpose mortgage lending goes to seed, I want to be insulated from that loss with my other stocks. Some are inevitably going to be a bust, but over enough different organizations, I should be able to net a healthy profit.
I'm not going to start preaching about "passive income sources" and promoting pyramid schemes, but investment seems like a good hobby to get into. If it made billions for people like Warren Buffett, maybe I can get a piece of that pie for myself.
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