Many people do not know how to invest outside of a workplace retirement plan (pension, 401(k), 403(b), etc.).
If this is you, take a deep breath. And rest assured knowing that there are many others in the same boat.
Most of society does not invest anything outside of their retirement plans (work and IRAs). Just a couple of years ago, a survey found that just 10% of Americans invest in stocks outside their retirement accounts.
Some of the 90% who are not investing in stocks outside of their retirement accounts are doing so because of financial reasons. However, I would venture to say that many are not doing so because they do not know how.
"Where Do I Start?"
I have written about how to approach investing in the stock market for beginners. You can find it here.
After spending time going through that article and becoming more financially literate, it's time to introduce:
The Reliable, Ol' Fashion Taxable Brokerage Account
This is my favorite avenue of investing outside of our retirement accounts, even more so than real estate.
Investing in our taxable account is a passive way to grow wealth for the long-term.
Notice that I said, "long-term". For the majority of investors (myself included), investing in the stock market through any type of account should be a long-term plan.
No One Can Predict The Future, But We Can Study The Past
If anyone tells you a stock or mutual fund has a guaranteed return, run! People familiar with investing in the stock market know there is no such thing as a guaranteed return.
However, looking at historical data, since the existence of the S&P in 1926, the average annual return of the stock market has been roughly 10% (hello, index fund investing!).
This means that if you are investing monthly over a 20-year period into a low-cost index fund, you have a very strong statistical likelihood to have increased your wealth at a tremendous rate.
In Summary
Wealth-building starts to really take shape once you start investing outside of your retirement accounts.
With that being said, I want to make clear that I am not saying to only invest in non-retirement accounts.
What I am saying is that if a person has invested fully in their retirement accounts in one year, they should consider opening and investing in a taxable brokerage account.
You can start here for information about investing in the stock market.
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