Comments on: Don’t Know Much About Stock Investing? Here’s How I Got Started … And Why It Helped Me To Understand Stocks

By: Christina

Christina — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:15:36 +0000

Thank you so much. I looked for ages for a website that would teach me what I need to know. I found you by chance by clicking a link on the NYT (I think) and I have been ’studying’ ever since. I just finished paying off my mortgage, and wanted to invest, but felt overwhelmed by the information flow… I know much more now… I also like your 101 tips for money free weekend. We are stuck in a boring post somewhere on this big globe, and are thankful for your tips. Cheers, Christina

By: Bren

Bren — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 03:37:38 +0000

I buy ETF’s and Individual stocks , the ETF’s are out performing my 12 stocks.(I’m with Sharebuilder and they are good!)Stay with ETF’s or Stock Fund and maybe later on go with 2 or 3 stocks!

By: db

db — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 01:21:24 +0000

Gordon:

The best advice anybody could give you is to pick up a few books on investing (Boglehead’s Guide to Investing and Jonathan Clement’s book on mutual fund investing are good starting points), and also spend some time researching on these sites:

http://www.morningstar.com
http://www.marketwatch.com

Only you can learn for yourself whether your ING funds are a good choice for you. It’s to your advantage to take the time to learn how.

By: Debbie

Debbie — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:04:14 +0000

Another good way to learn hands on, especially if you are tempted to buy and sell individual stocks, is to participate in some kind of investing contest. Then you are practicing with fake money! The only problem is that if you are in a boom the whole time or a bust the whole time, you will get the wrong impression of what the stock market is like.

Also, you can fill out a fake income tax form with your fake earnings and losses to see what that’s like. Turns out you have to pay attention to when you buy and sell what, and how much they cost (including fees). It’s easier to fill out your taxes when you sell your stocks in the same sized blocks and you bought them in. (Funds are more complicated because they might be buying and selling continuously, but their forms give you good numbers.)

By: sbarcelona

sbarcelona — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:11:03 +0000

Two books that really educated me on investing were ‘A Random Walk Down Wall Street” and ‘A Random Walk Guide to Investing’ by Burton Malkiel. The first book give a great history of the markets and investing. The second gives very practical tips on creating a sound financial foundation. His advice prompted me to start investing in broad index funds like Vanguard’s Total Stock Market Fund.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 09:27:26 +0000

I’m about to open a mutual fund account. I’m thinking about ING Direct since I already have a savings account there.

Are their funds okay?

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:37:54 +0000

Hey, I also been wondering how to get started, I looked at mutual funds and I think they are the best way to get started but I been having a hard time on how to buy the stocks, I was thinking sharebuilder website, anyways how do you buy your stocks??

By: Shane

Shane — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 06:29:07 +0000

Good stuff! You learn so much more by doing it than you can by reading about it.

Everyone needs to jump into the shallow end once in a while and make their way to the deep end step-by-step

By: Quang

Quang — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 03:13:18 +0000

Hey Trent, nice article… I haven’t had any stocks experience yet, mainly because I haven’t looked into how to get started yet. Great Tip, on using Mutual Funds to learn about Stocks… I always thought it had to be one or the other. Are you buying the funds through a 401k or a Roth IRA?

Again thanks for the ideas-