Back in the Stock Market
A long time ago I use to dabble in the stock market. After hearing tons of stories of people making some nice money, I decided that I would try my hand at it. I bought various cheap stocks and about 200 shares of Apple, Inc (AAPL).
Unfortunately I didn’t hold on to my stocks very long. A little after I started investing, I looked at buying my first house with my girlfriend at the time. My stocks had made me a little money, and now I needed the money for a down payment on my house. At the time I didn’t think much of it and was just glad I made a little money. Looking back though I’m really kicking myself for not keeping my Apple, Inc. (AAPL) stock.
The stock has since split twice. This means my 200 shares would now be 800 shares. The stock price right now is close to $700 per share. So my little investment would now be worth about $560,000. Now that would be very nice to have. Of course hindsight is always 20/20, and you can’t really beat yourself up for things that you did in your past because at the time it probably seemed like the right thing to do.
Now I’m back in a position to think about investing my money and making a profit as well as set myself up for retirement. I currently have a 401K with my work, but I also want to see if I can be active with my investments and make more.
I’m not rich so I don’t have a lot of extra money to just dive into the stock market. The plan is to take part of my extra cash each month and transfer it into my broker account and just buy stocks as I get enough cash. I’ve decided to start out buying cheap stock like I did before, probably under $10 per share. As I get more money and/or make money off the stocks I buy, I can move up to more expensive stocks.
So if you anyone sees me taking a lot of vacations and not talking about work, you know I hit it big! Wish me luck and here’s hoping I don’t lose everything I have.
I can understand your frustration. At least I can tell you that you are not the only one with major regrets. Someone I know from New York City (I live 130 miles from there) told me he also had to sell Apple stock, for living expenses in his case, and it would have been worth a half million or so at its peak.
Update: It’s been a little over a year since I got back into the stock market, and my overall return right now is at 22%. Not bad. It hasn’t made me rich, but it’s better than losing money.