The FOMO is real. The fear of missing out on record-high stock prices and the boom in cryptocurrency – or digital currencies – has pushed more young Americans to try day trading and other kinds of investing for the first time. It’s easy to see why. The stock market has surged nearly 100% since March 2020. AMC, a struggling cinema chain, has managed to soar more than 1,490%. Robinhood, the online trading platform that catapulted AMC to new heights, also has been a market darling, shooting up more than 60% since it went public on July 29. Meanwhile, Bitcoin more than doubled in value this spring, reaching $64,000 in April before briefly tumbling back to below $30,000. But the drive to get in on the action comes with big risks. And while the do-it-yourself spirit of day traders is understandable given frustrations with low-paying retail jobs and a distrust of big financial institutions, low levels of financial knowledge leave most Americans at risk of losing more money than they can spare when markets turn volatile or crash. Roughly 60% of U.S. adults say they are "not very" or "not at all" familiar with cryptocurrencies, according to results of a Harris Poll provided exclusively to USA TODAY. And the lack of financial literacy can be very costly for young investors. Still, there is a drive toward investing and trading cryptocurrencies as young investors want to fund more short-term needs, and it comes with ups and downs. #investing #YoungInvestors #bitcoin #stocks #financialliteracy #cryptocurrency