If you’ve never done any investing before, the prospect can be scary. But I’ll tell you a little secret: Pretty much anything you do for the first time can be a little scary.
Remember the first time you drove a car or started a job? Scary, right? But you got over it. You figured out what to do, asked for help or information when you needed it, and made it through. You got more confident over time. Investing can be the same way. » Read more
Now I won’t pretend to know what the stock market is going to do. It might implode, it might skyrocket, or it might stagnate — or even do all three on the very same day. Who knows. But I do know that one of the (many) strategies for making money in the stock market is “buy low, sell high”. » Read more
It’s important to know your investment risk tolerance level. Why? Because ALL investments have risk, and some types of investment are (much!) riskier than others.
You don’t want to take chances you can’t live with, which means that in addition to knowing how risky the things you’re considering investing in are, you need to know two things about yourself when investing:
Have you ever hit up the mall, seen something you’ve had your eye on for months marked 40% to 90% off, and then agonized over whether to buy it or not? I’m guessing not. If you want it, it’s in good shape, and you’ve got the money, what’s there to agonize about? That it might go on sale more?
Even stranger, I suppose, would be seeing an item marked “Now 30% more expensive!” and rushing to the store to grab it before it’s gone.
But that’s exactly how many people treat the stock market. When it’s on sale, they panic and sell the stocks they own, or at the very least avoid buying new ones. When prices get marked up (especially if they get marked up a LOT) they rush to buy. » Read more