How to invest even when you don’t know the first thing about investing

Ditch old ideas, like thinking only rich people invest in stocks. “You just need to have some money to invest,” Boneparth said.

Robo-advisors – online, automated services that deliver information and some advice – can sell investments at a low cost. Some apps and robo advisors have low minimums, even as little as $10 to get started.

If you think investing is just like gambling at a casino, think again. When you put your money in a range of different investments – generally in a mutual fund or an index fund, which hold many different individual stocks – you reduce the risk of losing money.

Investing doesn’t make you rich overnight. It takes decades to grow wealth.

You don’t need to know that much. “Reasonable people can be good investors as long as they have a plan and stick to it,” Routh said.

And you don’t have to have some magic sixth sense. “A common saying is that it’s about time in the market, not timing the market,” Routh said. In other words, over time, your money grows when you invest it.