Invest in stocks to help grow your wealth

Investing in stocks is investing in publicly traded companies and their potential. As the share price of your stock goes up, the value of the company goes up and you can reap benefits from that growth. Similarly, if the value of the company goes down, you can lose money on your investment.

When a company moves from private to public ownership, it makes shares available to interested investors through the stock market. When you choose to invest, you are buying that company’s shares on a stock exchange. As the share price of your stock goes up, the value of the company goes up and you can reap benefits from that growth. You can also sell stock at a profit as the shares appreciate. However, if the company declines in value, you lose money on your investment.

There are many different types of stocks to invest in, but most fall into two categories: Common stocks and preferred stocks. Both provide investors with a share of the company, but only common stocks allow investors to vote. Common stocks are the most popular type of stock in the market and represent a claim on profits, also called dividends, which fluctuates with the company’s success. Preferred stocks pay investors a fixed dividend, no matter how the stock itself fluctuates.

There are a few ways to invest in stocks with J.P. Morgan. Once you open a brokerage account, you can trade stocks commission-free with Self-Directed Investing, or work with a J.P. Morgan Advisor to plan a financial strategy for your goals.

Anyone 18 years or older can invest in stocks with J.P. Morgan. After opening a brokerage account, you can invest as little or as much as you’d like using our investment tools.