Investing 101

This article is actually about a subject that I felt I needed to research for my own good. Now that I'm making money online in marketing I thought that it would be a good idea to learn some investment strategies. At the very least, find out what types of investments there are, so this articles is kind of a beginners’ tutorial on investments. I'll go into more detail of each type in later articles. The one thing I did know about investments even before doing this research is that investments can be relatively safe, very risky or somewhere in between. And as with anything in life the bigger the risk the bigger the reward. Let's face it, you're not going to get a 50% ROI by putting money into a savings account. Right now mine is earning about 1.5% interest. Pretty pitiful if you ask me. That's not investing. That's just letting your money rot away in a vault.

So let's see what basic types of investments we have.

For starters you have bonds. These are also called "fixed income" securities. The reason that they are called this is because the income you get from bonds is fixed. You invest a certain amount in the bonds you purchase and after a certain amount of time, when the bonds mature, you get a certain return. You're basically lending out your money to the government and they are paying you back with interest at a later date. Bond investment is relatively risk free. Therefore the return you get is pretty low.

Then there are stocks. And let me tell you, there are more stocks out there to invest in than Carter has liver pills. Just check with the NYSE to see how many stocks are actively being traded. Stocks are much riskier than bonds. A stock can sell for $5 a share one day and drop down to $1 a share the next day. Imagine investing in 1000 shares. You would have lost $4,000 in just one day. Conversely stocks can give you a big windfall literally overnight. The key to stock investing is to get a good broker who knows the market. And don't worry, he WILL have your best interests in mind because he wants to make money too, as he gets a percentage of any gain you make on the stocks you invest in.

Then you have your mutual funds. Mutual funds are a collection of stocks and bonds put together in one portfolio. When you buy into a mutual fund you are actually throwing in your lot with a bunch of other investors. The theory behind mutual funds is that the diversification of investments will help prevent against any great loss on the investment as a whole. My wife's IRA is actually part of a mutual fund that so far is doing very nicely. So these are relatively safe, though a little riskier than bonds alone.

And then finally you have what they call alternative options which include options, futures, FOREX, gold, real estate, etc. I'll go into these in detail in future articles.

Investing is no longer a luxury, it's a necessity. With the value of the dollar constantly going down the only way to provide for your future and your retirement IS to invest. If you think I'm kidding, in 1965 a gallon of gas was 32 cents. It's now up to over $3 where I live. No, a dollar isn't worth what is used to be worth.

What's the answer?

Invest.

Just don't lose your shirt in the process.