Taking the Taboo Out of Money Talk

Investing in the financial markets shouldn’t be a scary concept, and yet it is perceived as one of the more daunting things you can do with your money. In addition, the complex, financial jargon used within the industry has also acted as a barrier to entry for many. Still, that’s no reason to shy away from the topic. In fact, if statistics about the growing wealth gap in America tell us anything, there’s never been a greater need than right now to normalize conversations around investing. The earlier we learn about how markets work, the sooner we can begin to invest and prepare for the future.

This lays at the heart of why we do what we do here at Robinhood: We believe that everyone should be able to to build a strong financial future.

Take a look, for instance, at our posts on Medium or on our webpage at Under the Hood where we take complicated topics and deliver clear, straightforward talk. Most recently, the President and COO of Robinhood Securities, Jim Swartwout, explained the life of a trade to help investors understand what happens after you submit an order to buy a stock on Robinhood. In another post, Jim breaks down when and why a brokerage firm like us would restrict trading. Those are just two examples of the dozens of articles we have posted to make investing easier to understand.

Investing in the U.S. stock market — one of the greatest wealth generators in history — shouldn’t be a privilege reserved for only the richest Americans and the 1 percent. And it certainly shouldn’t be a pastime solely for men. Since Robinhood launched in 2013, we have worked hard to ensure that anyone interested in investing has the opportunity to do so through our mobile app.

Using our technical expertise, we built a simple, mobile, and intuitive platform. Not only did we make our platform accessible and easy-to-use for a new generation of investors, we also created the opportunity for our customers to invest in fractional shares, allowing those who had less to invest, whether that be $50 or $25, to own a piece of high-value stocks usually worth hundreds apiece. And, of course, we completely disrupted the market by pioneering zero-commission trading, which is now industry standard.

We mean it when we say we are democratizing finance for all.

Our education resource hub, Learn, contains the basics of stock trading (and then some), and Robinhood Snacks, our short, daily newsletter, is an easy way to keep up with what’s happening in finance. This year, we’re doubling down on our commitment to making investing accessible to everyone, starting with our very first Super Bowl ad, “We Are All Investors.” In that same vein, we’ve launched a series of conversations on our own blog and on social media, especially in light of Women’s History Month in March, about how Robinhood users can invest and grow. Check out our stories on Empowering Women Investors, the Changing Perception of the Everyday Investor, the Growth of Women Crypto Investors, and look behind the scenes at who some of Robinhood’s women leaders are.

The conversation doesn’t end when Women’s History Month does. This effort is a long-term campaign, with our goal of empowering the new generation of investors by highlighting their own personal financial journeys with the #IAmAnInvestor hashtag. Additionally, as we enter into April’s financial literacy month, we will continue to arm people with the educational and informational tools to feel confident in their finances. We truly believe that a big piece of Robinhood’s ability to grow across key demographics is because we make it a point to give our own staff — especially women and those of diverse backgrounds typically underrepresented in finance — the floor to open up about their experiences and how investing fits into their lives. Their stories are your stories, and your stories drive our mission.

Change begins when we stop seeing investing as a taboo that’s impolite to talk about and instead view it as something necessary to our financial future and well-being. Robinhood, in line with our disruptive spirit, has been dedicated to changing the narrative around investing and normalizing it as something everyone should be able to talk about.

It’s time to take the stigma out of money talk and put more context around investing. Robinhood is here to help.

Stay tuned for a new Investing Club series by subscribing to our Robinhood Blog on Medium.

Fractional shares are illiquid outside the Robinhood platform and are not transferable to other brokerage accounts. Not all securities available through Robinhood are eligible for fractional share orders.

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Robinhood Financial LLC is a registered broker dealer (member SIPC). Robinhood Securities, LLC (member SIPC), provides brokerage clearing services. Robinhood Crypto, LLC provides crypto currency trading. All are subsidiaries of Robinhood Markets, Inc. (‘Robinhood’).