The College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) for the 2026 academic year is over. The students born in 2007 who took this CSAT will become adults on Jan. 1 next year. Aside from early admission interviews and essay tests, some students who have finished their entrance exam process are moving early to start studying investing.
According to Mirae Asset Securities on the 17th, the stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) most held by shareholders born in 2007 were tallied as the "TIGER U.S. S&P 500" ETF. ▲Tesla ▲"TIGER U.S. Nasdaq 100" ETF ▲"Vanguard S&P 500" ETF ▲Nvidia followed, highlighting strong interest in U.S. stocks.
Interest in investing among students who finished the CSAT is easy to spot both online and offline. In an online community post that said, "We will be adults next year, so I want to try stock investing," students responded that "buying the most famous Samsung Electronics seems like the safe bet." There was also a comment that said, "Unless it's an inverse product (a product that gains when stock prices fall), I want to discourage investing in Korean stocks right now."
Kim Min-jin, a third-year high school student attending school in Jeju Island, said, "Among friends, there is talk that now that the CSAT is over, we should try stock investing too," adding, "Most of my friends' parents opened brokerage accounts for them, and now we plan to try investing directly."
Stock experts advised students to avoid buying stocks out of short-term curiosity and instead to build interest gradually with a long-term perspective.
Cho Seung-bin, ETF research fellow at Daishin Securities Co., said, "Young students tend to be interested in domestic and global tech stock trends, and I hope they build interest by buying ETFs that include U.S. big tech corporations or stocks frequently mentioned in the news."
Cho explained that for beginners first entering stocks, starting with the information technology (IT) sector, which draws hot market attention, is a safe long-term approach.
It is also an option to use installment investment services provided by securities firms. Kiwoom Securities and Kakao Pay Securities currently offer a "stock saving" function. This function is a service that allows automatic purchases of stocks by setting a preferred cycle and a specified amount.
A Kakao Pay Securities official said, "If our saving service is used together with accounts that help reduce taxes, such as an individual savings account (ISA), it helps build a more efficient asset formation structure." Kakao Pay Securities currently offers the "stock saving" function and the "return saving" function, which automatically makes additional purchases based on a target rate of return.
However, there were also opinions that buying highly volatile leveraged or inverse products, or engaging in excessive "debt investing" through margin trading, should be avoided. This is because it is necessary to first assess conditions in domestic and overseas markets and among corporations.
Kang Sam-mo, a professor in the Department of Economics at Dongguk University, said, "When investing in stocks, you can expect results only by looking at the flow of Korea's and the global economies together," adding, "Even in the case of leveraged investing, you should make careful choices while recognizing the risks, commensurate with the potential gains."