Individual investing simply means that you buy individual stocks. Investing in individual stocks exposes you to all the best and worst parts of the stock market. On the positive side, you will learn about investing in public companies. The knowledge you gain would be a valuable heirloom to pass on to your children.

The negative side of investing in individual stocks is the time commitment, which will be more substantial as you go along. There is also a fairly substantial learning curve when you start. You're also competing against professionals, who are paid very well to spend all day trying to buy and sell stock better than you do. As a result, it is difficult to make more than you would if you only purchased shares of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that track broad market indexes.