<p>at 5 or 10 dollars a buy in a group of kids can play texas hold-em all night and it is less then the cost of a movie. Winner takes all at the end.
Am I comfortable with playing for money? No. But I am in the minority of the parents he knows. The kids he played with could afford to lose the money. Since I am not he no longer plays. I suggested he donate the money to charity. He did donate some but not all.
After years of working in the brokerage industry I saw the retirement accounts of many in the industry. I don’t invest in the stock market.
He has $500 and some of it comes from manual labor. He understands that it is just as easy to lose it all as to make money.</p>
<p>I’d like to see Gates on the WPT. He’s not doing much with Microsoft these days. (Bitter stockholder)</p>
<p>itstoomuch – I think the idea is to set up an account to “play” with in order to learn - with the understanding that he can lose as well as win. As long as it is NOT a margin account - there is no danger – the worst case scenario is that he loses the play-money. I realize that it actually is “real” money – but I actually have an account like this myself, somewhat larger but still an amount that is intended to play around with, rather than invest. I have to say that I have learned a lot about the workings of the stock account with my play account – I’ve pretty much broken even, but I would have done better financially to have put the money in CD or bought a savings bond. In any case, I’m tired of trying to second-guess the ups and downs of the stock market, and will be liquidating my “play” account this year when my daughter’s fall tuition comes due.</p>