As a college student, it is not easy to manage going to school full-time and having a job and for this reason you should consider making your money work for you. The stock market may strike some fear to many, and for good reason. People still remember vividly the mini-crash of 2008, most commonly known as the “recession,” and some believe that there is too much risk involved when it comes to investing and because of this, investing in the stock market is not worth their time.

To be a successful investor, one has to do extensive research on the markets that are of interest to one. One has to learn the ‘lingo’ of the industry; understand words like dividend, volume, broker, volatility, market cap, yield, price-earning ration, etc. One has to create a plan of action and one has to ask the following questions to oneself: do I want to invest my income? For how long will I invest my money? Which industries will I look to invest in? Am I looking to make my investments my main source of income? There among others, are questions that should pop up as one considers joining the stock market.

After asking these questions, you should then ask yourself, which brokerage firm will I join? How much do they charge per trade? Does this brokerage charge interest? Are there any fees involved?

This is where Robinhood comes in. Robinhood is a mobile app that allows you to trade on the stock market at no cost. This app makes joining the stock market simple, all you have to do is download the app, create an account, fund your account, and start trading! I downloaded this app last month, I first heard of it from a classmate during my morning chemistry lab class. He spoke to me and explained how the app worked, and I gave it some thought but I did not join right away. I joined the market this past August, after realizing that spending my money in Doritos bags was not a good investment and I could live with not eating Doritos for a day and investing that $1.49 on a penny stock. Then, I noticed that I was not alone, and that there is a growing community of investors in my campus that are using Robinhood and I am looking forward to joining their club once they register and are recognized by the college.

Robinhood does not charge fees to your account for trades, and there are no annual nor monthly fees. This works in the student’s favor, as you can begin to learn about the market with a lesser risk than students of previous generations. Now, you can literally create an account, fund it with that remaining dollar from your purchase of Ramen noodles from BJ’s, and invest that dollar and learn about the market, and its importance to our modern societies. I urge you to give it a shot, have some modesty and be alert, and above all be smart with the app. After all, if you are going to work for your money, then your money must be willing to work for you, a relationship can only function if both sides are working together towards a common goal and the goal that you and your money must have is to generate more money.