If you're interested in gold and prepared to take a risk on stocks, have a look at GDX (Van Eck Gold Miners Exchange Traded Fund). It is basically a single "share" with a single price but contains a diverse basket of gold mining shares inside it. It'll go up and down with the gold price, but with a lot of gold mining companies inside it, individual company risk is spread so there is much less risk of it going to zero. Not sure about the rules in the US, but maybe an adult family member could open a share trading account for you.
Some of the biggest game upstarts have come from modding existing games (eg, counter strike, DoTA) so you could find a game you like and start playing with the engine and graphics.
I met a young fella the other day who claimed he wasn't planning to launch his own game company. Yeah, right.
Do you mind???? All you need is knowledge/ability, determination and a bit of money. And believe me, I have all 3, especially 1. And 2. I know: Java, JS, HTML, CSS, php, Swift, C, and C++. I'm writing my own 3d engine using lwjgl (Lightweight Java Game Library) in java(obviously) Not being rude. Just stating my case.
$500 doesn't go far, so splitting it doesn't make sense. What you need is to try and capitalise on that money right away. At 14yo you have infinite hours and zero expenses, so I'd go with a solution that you can put your zero cost time into. That means forget about metals, they are going nowhere, seriously. Starting your own game company only requires time + talent, so you can do that on the side, that doesn't require capital at this stage, so that's a separate issue. That leaves either shares or a business. Shares may provide some money down the track, but otherwise you buy them and sit on them for years which is pretty boring. And there are the legal hassles An ebay business buying and selling stuff lets you use that money right now to buy stuff and then potentially double your money within weeks. Although you really have to research stuff to buy and sell. Are you able to set up your own PayPal account at your age? You are into gaming, so likely you know about gaming hardware and computers. Maybe you can hunt for gaming card bargains, test them and resell them? The key to ebay is to provide awesome photos and honest descriptions. And use a sniping program to grab bargains and just be patient until you nab one. Buying things with crap photos and descriptions etc and then resell with great photos and descriptions. Or buying stuff on Craigs list and reselling on ebay. Plenty of options.
I think what SteveS was trying to get at is that countless kids have this same dream and are trying to do it, that means a lot of competition. One of the best young programmers I know built his own 3D engines etc and quit his day job to start a game company. He failed, as do most unfortunately. But that doesn't mean don't try, definitely do. But if I was you I wouldn't spend a cent on it. With your skills you can earn money on those contract job sites like Fiverr and countless others, but rates are low and competition is high. But it might give you some income and helps build a portfolio of work and reputation.
I was writing computer games when I was 14. The skills you learn programming something for fun, even if unpaid will serve you well in later life even if the game development doesn't work out. I've had about 26 years professional career in IT since. Never made a cent writing games, but the gaming industry is a hell of a lot bigger than it was when I was starting out. Never listen to people telling you what you can't do MusicalStacker. Give it a crack with the confidence in knowing the worst that can happen is you gain invaluable experience and learn a bunch of new skills.
it's been said, but it won't hurt to say it again. Well done on starting to look at this at 13-14...wow. As you are in the USA, you should spend a little time considering what may happen to the USD vs silver. Long term, the trend is erosion of the nominal value of the USD, however, every so often there is often a reversal and that is when it is better to hold USD. The last major reversal the peak of silver in 2011 and before that was the GFC of late 2007-early 2009. During this, there was opportunity for big gains and losses in commodities ike silver. Essentially, hot money flowed to the "safe haven" of the USD, so holders of USD were in a better position to get more silver for the dollar at the bottom. Learn about the exponential function. There is a great youtube on this by a Boulder, Colorado professor of mathematics. Don't worry, the concept is not hard. Basically when you see rapid and enlarging shifts in a short space of time it is time to consider that a trend is peaking or troughing. The point of this is it assists you to pick your entry point. For the first $500, I would consider buying silver eagles "ASE's" or a kilo bar, which is maybe not as inspiring as the ASEs but the premium is less. Learn the difference between buy and sell prices, called "the spread". APMEX is a service I wish we had. Have a look there at the products on offer. Early this year I was drooling over brilliant uncirculated mint rolls of 1964 kennedy half dollars as I think this is a good investment long term, however the premium and transport to Oz was too high to justify it. Still, long term it holds collector value, has some numismatic leverage and of course, it is silver. Maybe not your first purchase though, but definitely be aware that numismatic value can add to investment value. Alternately, if you can set up a trading account, eg with a signature from a legal guardian like a parent for example, look at silver ETFs. You may be able to set it up to do "mock trades", ie not using actual money, but to get an idea of how to trade and learn by trial and error without losing your capital. I would consider reading a few books. Bob Moriarty recently published a kindle book for a few bucks and this is an easy read. He writes well although regards silver investors as lunatics. Again, great to see someone considering investing at your age. You'll have a great head start!
