If you finally have your bills under control and find yourself with some discretionary income that you'd like to put to work, then you need to understand the basics of investing. This is one area where that old saying "work smarter, not harder" really applies.
If your friends at work or family members are constantly talking about their stock portfolios or the growth of their real estate holdings, and you'd like to get into that game too, then you need to learn how to invest wisely.
Investing Basics
If you just want to learn the basics of investing, these articles should be your first stop. In fact, we've even included a pitch for our newsletter. We'll give you a brief introduction to the growingly popular habit of investing online, and also help you get started on that retirement nest egg.
Getting Started Investing
If you start investing at an early age, then you also have time working for you too. That's one of the reasons we are a big proponent of starting your investment portfolio early in life. To help get yourself, or your children, started down that road, we have the following publications to choose from:
Investing in Stocks
If you want to become a serious investor, then you need to understand what investing in stocks is all about. Over time, the stock market has provided investors with a fair balance of risk and reward. So if you're thinking about buying a share of a company's stock, here's the place to start.
Real Estate Opportunities
In prior years, investing in the real estate market was pretty much a no lose strategy. While some analysts predicted the housing bubble would burst, others thought it still had legs. It's never too late to educate yourself about this important segment of the market, and we have a number of articles that can help you make an informed decision:
Tax Liens
Tax liens are another increasingly popular way to invest in real estate indirectly. If you don't completely understand this approach, we have several articles that can help walk you through the entire process:
Bonds as Investments
We have an entire section of this publication dedicated to investing in stocks, but what about the bond market? Many investment gurus feel that bonds play an important role in balancing one's portfolio. We explain bond ratings, a valuation approach to choosing bonds, and even the basics of why companies need to issue bonds in the first place:
Investing Internationally
You might be comfortable investing in domestic stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, but what kind of opportunities exist overseas? If you're thinking about a currency play, or are trying to figure out if developing countries such as China are worth looking into, then take a look here:
Investing in Commodities
Since the beginning of recorded history, man has been intrigued with the lasting beauty and value of gold. If you've heard that gold is a good hedge against inflation, and want to know why, these articles help remove some of the mystery:
Special Investing Topics
This final group of articles deals with many specialty topics such as DRIP investing and investing in socially responsible companies. DRIP investing is a great way to get started in the stock market and often you can avoid paying commissions. If you'd like to invest in stocks, but don't support the social outlook of some companies, here is some more information on that topic too:
