[brokenmasonjars]

Robinhood being free of commission and having no minimum is a good start for the larger pool of people without much to put up. Personally I started with $500 from student loans and a scottrade account. I wish Robinhood was around when I was starting. You could start investing/trading in theory with just $1.00 but there is the problem that many S1 stocks are not too great. However a good $45 stock that goes up and down by $3 over a 2-4 week period is accessible. Even if not, $45 to $48, then back down to another stock at $45 in the range can lead to similar results. However one must not get into the trap of only wanting that particular price point, it's just an example. With Robinhood I would have been able push out to higher amounts sooner due to the lack of commission fees.

To me, a $45 start anyone working can figure out. Part of the problem if you ask me is the normalization of the notion of "you can't", etc. I've been reading Mass Flourishing and The Complacency Class this past week; the "you can't" notion, the loss of risk aversion seems to be the key driver. However I think it's also where we put of value regarding information. Instead of watching a sports game or the Bachelor, read a few books about investing and trading which you can get at a library; worldcat.org can help one find such libraries that hold those collections. However many would scuff if they were told to make that trade off.

[jheriko]

> To me, a $45 start anyone working can figure out

this is the problem, some people are working and can't really spare a single dollar, much less 45 of them.

[wayn3]

I'm going to contest that. Its absolutely ridiculous to claim that someone who makes any amount of money per month cant spare $45 of that. Maybe they use the $45 they COULD spare to buy slightly better food, which is a valid way to spend 45 bucks. But its ridiculous to believe that a person can't downgrade SOMETHING and save $45 a month. I know a guy who lived off of kraft prepared meals and milk for 2 months to get out of some debt and launch a business at the same time. He spent a dollar a day on "nutrition". Maybe not the healthiest 2 months of his life, but don't tell me that you cant sacrifice to save 45 bucks.

Its like saying you can absolutely not sleep an hour a day less to do something productive youd really love to do.

[brokenmasonjars]

This. Also it's not like you need to develop that $45 with one paycheck. Put $5 or whatever a side for 9 weeks.

To me the whole 'it can't be done with some people' is just an excuse to be risk averse.