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i really do not know anything about investments but seems like there's a lot of good info here. what would you advise? Also, i don't understand acronyms of these places so please simplify your answer
To start find a broker/mutual fund company and open a checking account. (need to put the money to be invested someplace).
Examples would be Charles Schwab, E Trade, Fidelity, Vanguard.
These sites will also have a lot of educational material for you to read.
Since you are just starting I would look for Exchange Traded Funds (ETF) that follow the major stock indexes such as the S&P.
As you learn more you can get into diversified investments (investments in different industries or even international).
One key is that you do not panic and sell when the market hits a steep decline. It will. And it will recover.
Do not invest money you plan on spending in the next couple of years.
The broker you pick will be able to handle separate accounts for IRA's and ROTHS if your objective is retirement savings.
i really do not know anything about investments but seems like there's a lot of good info here. what would you advise? Also, i don't understand acronyms of these places so please simplify your answer
Then you should look up the acronyms as you find them. There is a limit to which people can be expected to dumb it down at your request. If you don't know what an ETF is, for example, or what DJIA stands for, do some homework. Same for any other cryptic terms that may not be acronyms but that obviously mean something someone thinks you should know or learn, such as "no-load fund," "dividend," and "dollar-cost-averaging." Build your investing vocabulary. As to where you can do that, I'm pretty sure if you googled 'common investing terms,' you'd find some glossaries.
I don't know more than the basics, but I learned from reading a few books recommended on the boglehead forum (google boglehead). You want to have an understanding of the different kinds of common investments like what was mentioned above and you also want to understand your time horizon and risk tolerance.
Our investments are with Fidelity and Vanguard. We have a few other custodians too, but not by choice. We used to go through a bank/credit union until I learned about fees. I was basically paying some lady 1% or more to make choices that I could easily make for myself. 1% of 100,000 is just $1,000... but what happens when my portfolio gets to $1,000,000? 1% becomes $10,000... again, for something I could easily do myself if I have the know-how.
And that's the thing... it's not hard to manage your own portfolio after you learn the basics, determine your investment timeline and risk tolerance.
When I began I was referenced this book. There is so much on line these days it's hard to understand what is legitimate and what is not. The book above is a good start.
Good luck!
When I began I was referenced this book. There is so much on line these days it's hard to understand what is legitimate and what is not. The book above is a good start.
Good luck!
That was my first book.
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