Generation Invest: These Wall Street Shareholders are Studying for Finals. Sometimes, They’re Still in Homeroom.

While most middle schoolers are worried about algebra homework and avoiding cafeteria mystery meat, Rex Ballenger, a 13-year-old at Bak Middle School of the Arts, is strategically diversifying his investment portfolio. 

Plenty of his classmates like trading Pokemon cards or photos on Snapchat, but for Rex, trading stocks is where it’s at. He checks his portfolio multiple times a day: when the market opens, again at midday, and at the closing bell at 4:30 p.m. His current holdings include Apple, Amazon, Nvidia, Microsoft, Starbucks and Tesla. 

“I try to diversify my portfolio,” Rex said with the confidence of a seasoned trader.

The average person starts investing at the age of 33, according to a 2021 study by Personal Capital. But Rex? He started in sixth grade, inspired by his uncle who is a big investor. Using the Greenlight app, which allows parents to give kids allowance and invest, Rex has already developed a sophisticated approach to finance – one that would make most Wall Street brokers blush. 

“This has taught me money management,” the eighth-grader explained in a Zoom interview. “As many people grow older and if they don’t understand it, they can get into a lot of problems with money.”

On Thursday, stock suffered their biggest one-day loss since 2020. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,679 points, or 3.98%, and the Nasdaq plummeted 5.97%. These are not numbers anyone who has investments or even a basic 401k is happy to see. But the youngest investors know two things: time is on their side, and stocks eventually rebound.

So in a market where some of the biggest companies have seen significant declines – Tesla was down 27%, Walmart down 18% and Amazon down 17% – Rex remains undeterred. 

When asked about his investment philosophy, he sounds more like a financial advisor than a middle schooler. 

“Keeping it long-term, statistically, it’ll get you farther,” he said. 

But Rex isn’t an anomaly. Across South Florida, young investors are turning investing from a mysterious adult realm into an accessible, even exciting pursuit.

Jake Dalessio and Daniel Duffell, two 17-year-old FAU High School juniors, not only invest but have started a stock market club in January. Their motivation? Preventing financial literacy from becoming just another forgettable class. Their method? Combining educational workshops with a stock market simulation game that lets students learn without risking real money. 

“We have two parts to the club,” Dalessio said. “First is understanding different financial terms, and the second is our Investopedia stock market game with $100,000 in simulation cash.”

Investopedia is a financial education website that allows new investors like Dalessio and Duffell to create a game that mirrors real-time stocks. 

“I was actually really shocked when I found out we didn’t have a stock market club,” Duffell said. “What we do is called options, which is just completely capitalizing on all the risky factors of investing. I would never personally do it in real life.”

With eight members and a bi-weekly meeting schedule, these two friends are changing how their peers think about money. 

Among the members of their stock market club is Isabelle Yi, a 16-year-old in 11th grade, who recently joined to expand her investment knowledge. 

“Investing at a young age taught me the importance of starting early,” she said. “The market is constantly changing, so learning to keep up with the economy can benefit you in the future.” 

Unlike some of her peers who invest in individual companies, Yi takes a different approach, focusing on Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

“I invest in various ETFs that diversify my money into hundreds of different companies so I’m not too heavily invested in a singular company,” she said. 

This strategy has served her well so far. 

“I have luckily not lost any money, though the economy isn’t looking too great right now,” Yi said. 

Dalessio first dabbled in investing during COVID-19 when he was 10 or 11. He works as a Spanish tutor at FAU and at a local surf shop. Duffell works at J3 Aviation and as a youth soccer coach. Both have completely different approaches to investing.  

“The winnings were quite wonderful before I lost everything,” Dalessio said, noting he’s lost close to $1,200 since starting back up in May 2024. “I’m losing a little bit right now, but I’d rather just keep putting money in. I know eventually, as long as the world doesn’t end, it’ll eventually go back up.”

 His portfolio swings dramatically, with daily fluctuations of $200 plus or minus, and Duffell’s strategy couldn’t be more different. 

“Because we have the advantage of being young, we can let it sit and not touch it and hopefully when I’m 40 or 50, it’ll be like a bazillion dollars,” he said. 

Duffell has averaged a 30% gain per year, particularly in data center real estate. 

“My strategy is to think of long-term trends,” he said. “Big data companies like Facebook and Apple need massive data centers. So I've been investing in companies like Equinix that supply the real estate for these facilities. It’s a lot less volatile.”

Rex also tracks market trends, follows news about potential market movers like CEO changes and – in the current economic landscape – presidential policies like Donald Trump’s tariffs. 

A Reuters/Ipsos poll reveals that 70% of Americans are skeptical about tariffs, expecting them to drive up consumer goods prices.

“I was thinking [finance] as a small profession, but I want to go into neurology,” Rex said. “I’ll just manage finance on the side, knowing that I know how to do that, so I don’t have to hire anybody else to do it for me.”

Rex’s father, Dale Ballenger, couldn’t be prouder. 

“You’re happy when your children start to mature and develop,” he said. “I’m not having to keep after him. He’s actually doing it on his own and teaching us if we ask him questions.”

The current market volatility makes a sharp backdrop to these students’ learning. The S&P 500, which represents the 500 top companies, dropped more than 10% on March 13, marking its first correction since 2023.

Some, like FAU junior Joey Gelberg, preach taking advantage of the drop. 

“In fact, I would encourage people to buy now,” Gelberg said. 

Jackson Ganley, an FAU business junior, reflects a more cautious approach, having learned expensive lessons about high-risk investments in cryptocurrency during high school. Now, he’s focused on “safe” investments in companies he believes are sure to gain in value over time.

“Obviously, nothing is 100% safe,” he said. “But it's almost like some companies are too big to fail. The ones I'm investing in right now, I know they won't go bankrupt in the next year.”

Another voice in the youth investment movement is Alex Schuit, an FAU communications junior who says investing is one of the most popular topics among his friends.

“Everyone thinks they’re a broker,” he said. 

His strategy is to invest in newer technologies.

“They could be a little riskier because you never know what’s going to pan out, but if they do, it’s a bigger payout,” Schuit said. 

His portfolio reflects his philosophy, with investments in AI, Quantum Computing, and even a Bitcoin trust fund. 

“It's always good to have those side revenues and different types of money streams,” he said. 

Notably, cryptocurrency and day trading seems to hold more allure for this generation than traditional stocks. 

“What’s more of a buzzword is crypto,” Duffell said. “We know a lot more people interested in day trading rather than the stock market.”

Within the cryptocurrency world, Ganley invests in companies like Doge, XRP and Ethereum because “they have good utility and good backing,” meaning a strong community behind them that is very dedicated to investing in it.  

“Day trading is way more like gambling,” Dalessio said. “You can probably take your money to the blackjack table and have a similar outcome.”