If you want to invest in the stock market, but lack experience, it can seem complicated and risky.

I believe that every investor should own stocks. However, there's a right and a wrong way to buy them.

This podcast will explain stocks, their advantages, and disadvantages for

investors. I'll review five simple ways to own stocks while taking as little risk as possible,

so you can confidently build wealth for the future. Welcome back to episode 938 of Money Girl.

I appreciate you being here and spending time with me.

I'm Laura Adams, an award-winning author, on-camera spokesperson, money speaker, and founder of The Money Stack, a substack newsletter.

I've been providing personal finance tips and advice on this podcast weekly since 2008 with over 44 million downloads. You can learn more,

ask your money questions, and sign up for the money stack at laura d adams.com. Newsletter subscribers

automatically receive my money success toolkit with the exact templates I use to manage money.

So I hope you'll download that and enjoy it.

So let's talk about stocks. They are known as a share or equity because they represent ownership

in a company. A company might issue stock to raise money from investors. For example,

NVIDIA might want to launch a new product or invest in research and development.

Selling shares of stock to the public allows a company to raise capital without incurring any

debt. Therefore, if you buy shares of NVIDIA stock, you purchase a small piece of the

company. You become an equity holder,

which is why stocks are called equities. There are different classifications of stock based on

the rights that owners receive, but the two main types are common stock and preferred stock.

Common stock is ordinary equity that represents basic ownership

in a company. It typically allows you to vote on critical company issues, and it may come

with dividends, not all do, but it may come with dividends, which is a share of company profits

...