Compounding Snowballs

Bill Mann is the Director of Small Cap Research at the Motley Fool. Prior to that, he was the founding Chief Investment Officer for Motley Fool’s investing arm, Motley Fool Asset Management, where he oversaw 3 mutual funds and 7 separately managed account strategies with nearly $2 billion in assets under management. Mr. Mann has an insightful take on the fun (and power) of investing internationally. I have very minimal experience with international investments, so I’m very excited to learn more! How do you look for competitive advantage in companies outside of the U.S. versus internal, US focused companies? So believe it or not the process is very much the same, except that in many countries there are additional types of competitive advantages that aren’t available in the US. In the US there are very strong rules that prevent commingling of public and private interests, but in many countries, there are companies that are provided additional protection from competitors. For e...

As a child, I would trade a dollar bill for almost anything I wanted, whether that was a doll, earrings or a friend's toy I desired. Most children, just like me, don't have a sense of the importance of money. Because they are unaware of the value, they are more forgiving about losing a dollar or two. Children also think simply. Companies that children use every day are easy to understand and tend to succeed. Children don't look into biotech penny stocks or Brazilan farming companies, so their investments are not as big of a risk. They also have time. Time is the magic key to investing. Looking around, there are many early birds that don't voice their investing genius. Here is a story about a teenager that has been using his time to his advantage.  “I thought you had to go to New York and yell at people to get money. I was so mad because it cost so much to fly out there,” says Isak D, teenager investor, and quiz bowl enthusiast. Even as a 10-year-old the only barrie...

You know why you should save your money, open a bank account and how to find a stock, but one thing is missing: how to open a brokerage account? This is important because it is how you actually buy stocks. Here are three quick and easy steps how to open a brokerage account and place an order to buy a stock. Consult a broker for more information. Step One: Finding a Broker A broker is a service. They stand between your stock and you. Depending on the company you are going with as your broker, the minimum opening balance and deposit fee is different. The minimum deposit can range anywhere from $0.00 to $2,500.00. That is one thing to look out for, make sure the minimum amount is an amount you can comfortably hold in your account. Next, you need to know the fees the broker will charge you. You want to make sure that your broker’s fee is low.  For any investor, but especially a young investor it is important to have a low commission or fee when you buy and sell stocks. For exa...