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start investing
QUESTION
Asked by “barteq007”
How do I start investing?
I would like to get into the whole investing thing, however, have very little experience and not too many resources. I would like to start up with about $3000, so I don’t know if it’s even worth getting into stocks, funds or similar?
First of all which broker should I go to? Will they help me with making decision on where to invest? I live in Chicago and work right in the loop so there is abundance of different companies, I’m just afraid of even walking into their office and being so inexperienced… Are they dealing with people like me, or are they interested only in people who have hundreds or thousands?
Should I get into the internet broker companies like E-Trade or Ameritrade or it’s not a good idea for a newbie?
Also how much on average are relatively good and safe stocks and how much can I potentially earn/loose on them? Also how much professional companies like Charles Shwab will charge me for trades or advices – will those fees be covered by potential stock gains? BIG THANKS!
ANSWER
Dear “barteq007”:
Well, with no experience, take your 3k$, fold it in half, and put it your pocket. See you just doubled your money. Sorry it’s an old wall street joke. But seriously, there are so many ways to lose your money, please evaluate all advice, even mine, for suitability to you.
Let me make sure I understand your question, you’ve got a stake and what to get into “investing”. You’ve inquired about brokerages in Chicago. And, internet alternatives.
First, stop and take a deep breath. Running into anything, without a thorough understanding of what your getting into, will likely end badly. So please resolve to make haste slowly.
Second, time for some “education”. Below I’ve cited Suzzie Orman and Dave Ramsey for the emotional issues about investing. Also Bob Brinker’s site has an excellent reading list. Finally, for the immediate investing, look into all that credit unions have to offer.
Third, you’ll have to decide if you really want a brokerage account to buy and sell stuff or if you will use mutual funds. I always point people to Vanguard in Philly and on the net http://www.vanguard.com as the exemplar without equal of low cost mutual funds. It’s really hard to go wrong with them.
So to sum up, 3k$ isn’t a lot. No doubt it’s a lot to you. But in Wall Street terms, it’s tiny. If you said you had 3M$, my advice would be the same except louder. 3k or 3M, “investing” can cost you a lot of money from mistakes. So, don’t do anything, until you collect a lot more info.
Hope this helps. I’m interested how it works out for you. Drop me a note sometime. My blog may have helpful “stuff”.
Ferdinand J. Reinke
Kendall Park, NJ 08824
SOURCE
http://www.creditunion.coop/
http://www.suzeorman.com/
http://www.daveramsey.com/
http://www.ftc.gov/
http://www.sec.gov
http://www.bobbrinker.com/books.asp
http://tinyurl.com/lxu93
http://www.reinkefaceslife.com/…
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