Me and my husband would like to get invloved in investing, Where do we begin?

Question

I have read a few articles, and I kind of remember back in high school in finance about the stock market but that was 6 years ago. How much should a novice start with? Please help

Answer 1

Star,
Start only with the money that, if you lost it all, would not change your lives or fill you with remorse. I'd suggest 5,000 if you are a regular middle class family. That's enough to take seriously but not enough to matter alot if you lost it. If you don't have 5k to lose, you probably should not be investing in stocks.

Read several books. I suggest "Beating the Street" by Peter Lynch. It's written for new investors. There's an outfit represented by something called "The Motley Fool" that's got several good books too. Bottom line - the time spent reading 4 or 5 good books on investing is money well spent. In fact, you could consider it as work - since the information you gain will be making you money later. Please don't skip this step.

Please follow these guidelines:

1. Don't use a full service broker. These are brokers that try to choose stocks for you. They make money when you buy and sell. The more you trade, the more they make. This is not beneficial to you, therefore, they have conflicting priorities to yours from the very start. They also charge significantly more. With 5,000 bucks, full service commissions would eat it up faster than profits. It's just not necessary. Go with someone like E-Trade. They're a legitimate discount broker and have been in business for many years. They aren't going anywhere.

2. Don't buy stocks you don't know anything about because your neighbors boss knows somebody with a hot tip. This is pure gambling and because hot tips usually also qualify for illegal insider trading, they are usually not true. Also, by the time a tip reaches anyone out of the boardroom, the stock price will have already reacted.

3. Do buy the stock of companies whose products you are familiar with after finding out if they are financially sound and growing. Watch your grocery buying. What new product is really cool? What new store is going up in your area? Sometimes these stocks can be very overpriced. Sometimes, you'll be the person that spotted a wal-mart all over northern Arkansas or Missouri in 1972. I have a friend whose mother was a home depot clerk in the early years. She bought stock out of her almost minimum wage job and retired a millionaire after 10 or so years of dramatic growth. Will this happen to you? Probably not. But it's nice to know that it can.

4. Watch a stock for a few months before buying any of it. Read all the news you can find on it. Yahoo! financials is a good place to start.

5. Don't place too much stock (ha ha) in the so called 'recommendations' of so called experts. Trust your instincts.

6. Never let the fear of paying taxes prevent you from selling a losing stock.

7. Remember: If you find something that stays fairly stable and doubles in 3 or 4 years, you've done very well. If you do this with your 5k, then, if you do it 9 more times, you will be a millionair. 5k x 2 = 10k. 10k x 2 = 20k. 20k x 2 = 40k. 40k x 2 = 80k. 80x2 =160. 160x2 = 320. 320x2 = 640. 640x2 = 1.28 mil. You'll always have capital gains taxes, but it's close to working out to a mil. The problem is, you'll want to spread yourself around some when you start making more money.

I strongly recommend that you join or start an investment club of like-minded individuals. Find people who are conservative and rational. You can share ideas and research. You can bounce your ideas off of each other and make sure your moves are not overly motivated by emotional reactions. Trying to invest in the space of your own mind, knowing that many experts can't be trusted, knowing that full service brokers can't be trusted, and knowing that some of the market is manipulated can be stressful and lonely. You need a support group.

Answer 2

First look at how much you can afford to invest every month. And, this is money that, as far as your daily finances is concerned, doesn't exist. It should also be money that you won't miss if you lose it all. That is, a lot of people maxxed out their mortgages and credit cards in the dot-com boom to buy tech stocks on margin. That worked fine while the market was skyrocketing. But, when the buble burst, they were holding on to worthless stocks. And, they still owed the money on their mortgages and credit card accounts.

Second, you have to look at how much risk you want to take. Low risk usually equals lower returns. High risk has the potential for higher returns. But, it also has the potential for higher losses. If you put your money into a relatively safe money market account, you would get a rate of return (about 5% right now) that is very safe. But, it's not much of a return. Or, you could put your money into risky stocks that are extremely volatile right now. They might jump up a couple of points this week, and jump down a few points next week for seemingly no reason.

Third, you also need to look at the liquidity of the investment. Do you want to invest in something where you can take the money out at any time without penalty? Or, do you want to put the money away in something like a 401(k), where you can't get at the money without penalty until you retire? Retirement accounts that are matched by your employer are a great investment, since you are basically getting free money from your employer going into your account each payday. They have a guaranteed return, plus or minus how the fund you invest in is doing. But, you can't touch that money until you retire unless you pay a significant penalty.

The best thing to do is talk with a financial advisor. They will ask you all kinds of questions about some of the things I have mentioned and more. They, being personal financial experts, can then suggest specific plans for you and your situation.

Answer 3

Well it would take hundreds of pages to give you the necessary advice, fortunately someone has done that for me. Jim Cramer, he retired from running a $400 million hedge fund at which he gained 24% year over year for 14 strait years. He now has a show on CNBC called MAD MONEY and a book with the same title. I have read all 4 of his books and have made a TON of money using his technique. The important thing to do is to find a good book written by someone who has credentials, not just a degree but someone who has experience and success in the market.
I would suggest starting by going to www.thestreet.com (which he founded) and checking out the stuff under the Jim Cramer tab. I can also highly recommend watching CNBC at 6 eastern for his weekly MAD MONEY show.
He makes it interesting and fun to learn
Good luck, and remember the most important thing: get educated and diversified!

Answer 4

Investing is part of the solution, now what is the problem??? To answer this properly you should seek an independant financial advisor who should sit you both down and go over your personal goals (school, kids, early retirement, house purchase, support elderly relatives, blow the lot in Vegas etc), you current and future earnings potential and current financial state (debt, house, kids etc).

Only then should they start to suggest ways of investing or saving that should then make complete sense in terms of getting you to the goals that you have described.

"I want more money at some point in the future" is not a specific goal but it is what most people call a plan - it isn't.

Forget about getting involved in investing until you have taken focussed and personalised advice. Otherwise you may as well call it gambling.

Bon chance

Answer 5

Investing covers a broad spectrum of areas. Ranging from property,superannuation, managed funds to the share market.
Also the amount of capital you have currently available to invest will govern which area you are able to invest in as there are limits to the amount you can invest at any one time.. For instance you can invest as little as $500 to invest in the stock market.
All areas will need some research before you commit your money, plus your attitude to "RISK" also plays a major part.Don't go in blindly, please plan first as it it is very easy to lose your hard earned cash.
My field of expertise is the stock market and I have a website called www.asxnewbie .com where you will find a wealth of "FREE" information which will get you started down the right track .
Which ever area you decide to invest in I wish you success.

Answer 6

You don't say how much money you have to invest, but if you want to play and learn on the stock market, I would suggest www.sharebuilder.com.

There you can put money (as little or as much as you like) on a regular schedule (or one time for that matter) and invest it into the stocks of your choice, for $4.00 per trade.

It's a good deal, since there is no minimum and you control your own account. The offer many research tools so you can learn and make your own decisions.

Good Luck, Michael

Answer 7

Me and my husband went to our bank and talked to the president of the bank. We didn't have much money well actually only 3,500 to be exact so he suggested we start with a CD or certificate of deposit. It can be 18 months to however long you want it. it earns more interest than just putting your money in a savings account. And once it frees up in as little as 18 months you can roll all the money over interest included or you can can choose to do something else with it like start an IRA which is what we will probably do next because my husband work does not have a retirement plan. Ofcourse their are tons of ways to invest money this one just happens to be risk free. Good Luck

Answer 8

This is the most important response you will get.

Both you and your husband visit http://www.investools.com Search the page for information on how to attend a free seminar in your area. I think it is a 2-3 hour seminar with continental breakfast served. The program will allow you to enter the study coarse with a friend or partner at no additional cost, so you essentially get two for the price of one.

It's one of the most important choices you will make regarding your financial future.

Answer 9

Not having the complete answer without
knowing you, your goals, your financial situation,
it is virtually imposible to give you an exact guide
line.
If anybody says that he or she can, RUN!
I would also be cautious to start investing your
money in a market that fluctuates daily,
without setting some concrete parameters.
E- mail me,I might be able to at least give you
some pointers.
[e-mail]
Regards, Werner.

Answer 10

Put $3000 - 6000 in Sirius Satellite Radio.
Put $3000 - 6000 in Skins Footwear.

Lots of good answers above. Take some from each.

Rule 1 of investing: Never invest what you cannot afford to lose.