Improve Your Investment Knowledge

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Where to Begin

When starting to learn, you need to ask yourself a few questions.

The first question is: How much do you know about investing. This will help you start off. If you are just beginning there will be the need to do a lot of learning, an awful lot of learning. If you already know a lot then you still have to remember that investing can be hard to succeed at.

For beginners, the next question would likely be; how does someone learn about investing? There are two methods and both should be used to some degree.

1. Start by going to your bank or investment company and:

  • ask about information and if possible, ask to use the bank's financial planners. They will help you learn and it shouldn't cost anything at first. Then try using the investment companies on-line practice portfolios for a while (almost all institutions have practice programs). 
  • Simply practice on-line while putting some funds aside for savings and investing. Practice for a while, as you need to find out what the market does over a few seasons at least. The market and your investments will go up and down while you practice. Keep reading and learning while watching your investment picks. Do a bit of trading with some of your choices and leave other investments alone to simulate real investing action. Once you get used to the action then start investing your funds a little bit at a time. 

2. Then use the computer. There are vast amounts of information available but start by asking about 'basic knowledge about investing'.

  • The internet has a vast array of sources but start by searching for 'basic information about investing'. There is so much information that it may be confusing and investing is a hard subject to understand and eventually master.

Information Sources

Information and knowledge are everything. Below, you'll find some good sources:

Good basic investment information: Marketwatch Basics

some on-line test program links if you don't want to use your own financial institution: 

Continue on for more basic investment information but be sure to read from other sources to get a well-rounded idea of what investing is all about.

check out Robo-Advisors below as a new method of investing - they buy ETFs and make investing a lot simpler, especially for new investors. Keep learning though as Robo-advisors may make up just a part of your portfolio.

To understand such a complex subject check some of the following links:

from Canada:

 

YBP Tip

These sites are loaded with various bits of information but being that it is investing some may be overkill for some people. Don't try to read it all and understand everything. Pick the subjects you're interested in and learn from it. Watch out for the advertisements. Many are not learning tools. They are there to entice you to buy a product or spend money on a stock. Be very wary of investment ads on the internet. 

The same is true for articles or books. Most of them have lots of similar information, so don't buy lots of books all at once. Pick one that looks good to start with, then add more if desired. There is also a lot of good material to read on the internet as well.