My Investment Journey

My original post from November 2016:

My name is Jeff Ramirez, and I have no idea what I am doing!

I know what you're thinking - "what the hell is this guy thinking jumping in to stocks without any financial background, do your homework or get eaten ALIVE!!!"

Background:

The stock market has always been a field that I have had my eyes on since I took my first business class in high school in 2005. I felt that being an ordinary guy, stocks could not be accessible to me without having a fortune to invest and the typical college education, you can probably tell as you read through this. In 2008 at the age of 18 and about to graduate high school I knew the that the traditional 4 year education was not for me and reverted to my "hustling" ways of selling t-shirts from the trunk of my car. I was fortunate and unfortunate enough to have found the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM) to expand my knowledge in the apparel industry and however the ability to pay through schooling was only achievable through financial aid as my parents had lost jobs making the requirement of work become an immediate requirement .

Fast Forward to 2016:

It was through my experiences which I learned that nothing is permanent, jobs, well-being , money, however it was through these same experiences in which I realized that there are things that one can do to change the outcome and take control of the situations which are handed to them to create opportunity for oneself to thrive in.

I currently manage a warehouse for a wholesale women's clothing company which has grown from a few thousand a year to $30 million dollars in a growth of 4 years. No, I don't make millions - from being the only one in the department back in 2012 and with guidance on how to grow and develop the departments to create what it is today, if you were to look at what the national average salary is for a warehouse manager you can imagine I am a little under that (as I write this.) I have cash, I have savings and a checking account. I have credit card debt, school loans, and a personal loan.

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So Why Stocks:

As many know, the rate of which technology has updated since the 90's of dial-up to Virtual Reality of 2016 has been extraordinary. There are multiple news sources of information which can be received in "real-time" that can also be replayed in sources like youtube. When I began gathering information on trading, many websites seemed to provide me with the same information - "set up a free account with us, just pay a cost per trade!" the problem is that I do not have enough capital to pay a cost per trade fee or a brokerage fee. Sure there is much one can benefit from joining these sites but I'm a stubborn fella' and if I think Pepsi is going to be healthy in future and Nike's self tie shoes are going to explode (figuratively) than I WANT to purchase these shares without having to pay a fee for that trade. Welcome the Robinhood App, the free trading app for Apple IOS and Android and this blog is to share with you MY journey as I build my investment portfolio.

I would also love to get feedback and suggestions from those who read and come across this blog.

*I AM NOT A FINANCIAL ADVISOR and THIS BLOG IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE FINANCIAL ADVICE, THIS BLOG HAS BEEN CREATED TO SHARE WITH YOU ALL MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AS I DEVELOP MY INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO