At 50, I realized that keeping money in the bank is like killing it. Am I the only one who realized this so late? I need to wake up my money and make it work for me even while I sleep!
[Korean Original] Click here to read the Korean version of this post.Click here to read the Korean version of this post.
The Wake-Up Call: Why an Unemployed Woman Decided to Start Investing
Living life as an unemployed woman in my 50s, I realized that the money sitting in the bank—or more accurately, the money I’m ‘safekeeping’—was earning nowhere near enough from bank interest alone. I don’t have a large fortune, but I thought, “Better to be busy praying than doing nothing.” I decided to finally start stock market investing, something I had been vaguely interested in.
I used to think that I would finish my life without ever touching or knowing anything about the stock market. Why? Because I simply wasn’t interested…
(I thought stock market investing was not for me.)
My First Step: Opening a Stock Account
For the first time in my 50 years, I opened a stock brokerage account.
I was lured by a search engine ad promising **three years of commission-free trading for US stocks,** so I opened an account with Eugene Investment & Securities. I then gradually pulled out the money that had been ‘sleeping’ in my bank account.
I initially pulled out 6 million KRW (Korean Won). I exchanged 5 million KRW into US Dollars and purchased US stocks, officially becoming a Beginner US Stock Ant (Seohak Gaemi).
My First US Stock Picks: Coca-Cola and Mondelez
My very first US stock selections with the converted dollars were 3 shares of Coca-Cola (KO) and 3 shares of Mondelez (MDLZ).
There were two reasons for this:
1. When I think of America, the first image that pops into my mind is the iconic red color of Coca-Cola.
2. I wanted to buy shares of a company that is a representative American brand.
I then locked up the remaining dollars** in a US Repurchase Agreement (RP) for one month. (It will mature on October 24th of next month [2025-10-24, as per user context]).
What Did I Do With the Remaining 1 Million KRW?
I turned that remaining 1 million KRW into stocks as well.
Specifically, I bought 5 shares of ‘Samsung Electronics,’ the No. 1 large-cap company in South Korea. I always wanted to own Samsung Electronics stock because it represents both South Korea and a global enterprise.
I will honestly share how an ordinary person like me begins to grow their money.