What are fractional shares, and how do they work?

A fractional share is when you buy and hold less than a single share of a company. By employing this strategy, you can own half a share or a quarter of a share.

This allows many beginner investors to gain exposure to the stock market with any amount of money they want instead of purchasing, let's say, $3,400 on a share of Amazon.

Many of today's trading platforms allow users to buy fractional shares. For example, Robinhood is one of these websites to provide its traders with access to fractional investing.

Here are some of the others in the investment marketplace:

• Interactive Brokers
• Charles Schwab
• Fidelity Investments
• E-Trade
• TD Ameritrade