<prompt> Human: The reason why I am asking here and not in rinvesting is i hope to avoid any bias. For someone 20 yrs old who doesnt know the first thing when it comes to stock market and has saved up quite a bit, is it worth it? I figure before I invest, I will do a lot of research for at least a year or I can also spend that time learning more about my career Im a programmer. Just wondering what you guys think.. To me so far it seems like only a very, very few people who have a lot of patience and are in it for a looong period of time make with investing in stocks. Sure there are exceptions, but I can also walk into a casino right now too.  <response>: Well, youll definitely get bias in this subreddit too. If youre unsure of your ability to dig into something new finance, or cant make the time commitment necessary to research your potential stock purchases, then follow the advice in this subreddit and just go with index funds. That said, the market is irrational, and if you follow Buffet principles, and have determined in advance what you think a certain stock is worth, then opportunities will come up where you can purchase strong companies for less than they are worth. rinvesting has a lot of short-term traders. rpersonalfinance has a lot of passive traders. Theres plenty of middle-ground in between. 