What the stock market is and how it works

The stock market is the organised marketplace where stakes in companies are bought and sold. Mexico has two exchanges, the BMV and BIVA, and through them you also reach securities from all over the world via the Sistema Internacional de Cotizaciones.

Its real job is to connect two needs: companies raise capital to grow, and investors become partners in that growth. Every time the market rises it is not magic — it is thousands of companies generating profits and distributing value.

For an ordinary person, the market stopped being a private club years ago: with index funds you can own the largest companies in the world from accessible amounts. The question is no longer whether you can get in, but how much you need to build up there for your own goal. The calculator gives you that number.