I'm a novice.How and where do I start to learn about investing?

Answer 1

You should invest in stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks, as individual stocks are too risky. For most folks this means buying mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low cost funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money conservatively, in money market funds and bond funds, and part aggressively in stock funds. Vanguard.com has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea how aggressive you want to be.

If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea.

I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion

Buying a house instead of renting will save you a lot of money in the long run. You don't have to pay rent and you build equity in your house instead. Buying rental property can also be a good investment. However, being a landlord can be hard work, and many people are not good at it. If you don't know how to handle deadbeat renters, you can have trouble.

If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.

Sources:

http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/scottburns/columns/2007/vitindex.html
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
https://flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education

Answer 2

Go to your local bookstore (Barnes &N, Borders) and go to the Investment section and find a basic book about investing.
If you have a 401K at work put some savings in that and put money in all 3 classes (Stock fund, Bond fund and a short term fund) After a year or two you will see how those accounts work and will learn first hand a lot. Also the 401K is probably the best place to save long term money.
IN the mean time go back to the Bookstore and continue to challenge your knowledge about investing- but again there is nothing like getting into investing with real money. You learn real fast.

Answer 3

Most of the suggestions above are pretty good. Their are lots of online sites that can give you basic info, too. Such as Yahoo Finance, Bankrate.com, MSNBC.com, etc. One thing to decide is what kind of risk you are willing to take. Until you "wet your feet", don't try any trading. Look for diversification between stocks, bonds, foreign funds, etc. Mutual funds have a great track record for the long term. If you want even more "no brainer" investments, take a look at index funds/ETF's which trade like stocks but follow a well established index. That way you can pick what areas of the market (stocks, bonds, real estate, tech, etc.) you might want to invest in generally, without picking a particular stock. Make sure you only invest with extra funds; not your emergency fund.

Answer 4

I would suggest reading several books and browsing the web for "how-to" guides as well as discussion forums.

I recommend this book: "The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing". This is one of the simplest and best books to learn about and start investing. The book discusses topics in a plain style which makes it very simple to get started.

Once you get an idea on the basics, you can learn more by reading about more specific topics such as asset allocation, mutual funds, retirement investing, and tax strategies. Hope this helps!

Answer 5

I suggest 2 books:
The Total Money Makeover by Ramsey
and
9 Steps to Financial Freedom by Orman

They differ in how they use credit but both explain investing and money in an easy to understand method.

Answer 6

Read books. Investing for Dummies is a good start. Do your research online as well. Find out which broker you want to use and generally on their website they would links to places that can help everybody.

Answer 7

Read personal finance mags like Money or Kiplingers.

Start a phantom portfolio - give yourself $10,000 to invest. Pick stocks or mutual funds, write them down, check on it every month, see if you made money, see if you beat the market - on paper.