Lux Investing
Should i begin to learn to invest?
Hi, i am a sophomore at college and am interested in learning how to invest my money in stocks, bonds, etc. I have 0 knowledge about anything in investing. I don't follow up on current events or anything like that. BUT...i am perusing a major in Finance. I use to run somewhat of an ebay business where i would buy items cheap, and resell them for profit back into ebay. I would study trends, in when these items would sell cheap, when they would sell high. This seems like a "simplier" version of investing and i wanted to jump from kiddy games to big boy games. Here are my major questions: #1 Should I attempt to learn how to invest by myself, or wait for the college to teach me? How useful is college in teaching you to invest or is it something that you can really only learn by "doing"? Does courses needed for a finance major completely cover the needed knowledge on investing? #2 Is investing at a younger age the better? Should i invest now rather than when i'm older? Of course, i wont be investing ALOT of money, only maybe 1k. This is mainly an exploratory reason. Would an beginner investor lose EVERYTHING? I plan to play it safe so i'm hoping that if i DO lose money, that it would not be all of it. Maybe 70% of my money at max. Or is it so dangerous, that there is a high chance i could lose all my money? #3 If it is a good idea to start learning now by myself, what material, sites or methods would help me learn as much as i can for investing? I know there are tons of books out there which tell you how to invest and what not. Also...i feel that forums are the BEST way to help you expand your knowledge when learning by yourself. So, is there a good forum which i can get expert advice and knowledge, that many "beginner" books don't help much with. I find that in forums, there are "mentor" figures who would help guide you. #4 To do the "investment games" or not? In high school, we participated in a an investment game. I know that practicing on the investment game is a safe way to learn but i also feel that it does simulate real life investing enough because you lose nothing. Because you lose REALY MONEY, you have much more of an incentive to learn more and to not screw up.
Public Comments
- 1. Both- Courses are helpful, as is learning and researching the subject. 2. Yes, as a younger investor you have more time for errors to correct, this is one of the best buying opportunities, and you money grows more over time 3. Start reading on the subject- for a good website try fool.com, and for books Jim Cramer has good advice. 4. Absolutely. I have a real portfolio, and I maintain a game portfolio to try out strategies I would not try otherwise, and see what works, etc.
- If you want to learn about stocks, I suggest watching and reading from Brian Shannon at HTTP://WWW.ALPHATRENDS.NET I would recommend that technical analysis would be the way to go, because you do not need to know current events and this is what lets you know when to get in and when to get out of stock trades. I learned so much from this great man Peace :)
- 1 Do it on your own. I'd be surprised if schools teach strategy, chart analysis, etc. But you will be taking courses like accounting that will help you analyze company financial statements. When you learn something useful in college, you will be better able to relate to it from your investment experience. #2 Yes, the earlier the better. First, you have more time to recover from your mistakes. Secondly, you get the benefit of compounding. You need to determine how much risk you are comfortable with. There are investments that are almost impossible to lose money in, but they only pay a paltry interest rate. Or there are investments that will potentially allow you to triple your money, but with a good chance of losing it all as well. The greater the potential benefit, the greater the risk. This rule applies to any investment. Don't let a sales person tell you differently. #3 I found the Motley Fool site very educational when I was just starting to invest in stocks. Minyanville also has good educational materials. #4 Yes, do the games. They're fun and can give you confidence or send you back to the drawing board. You are correct that it will not simulate the real world because there are no serious consequences to making mistakes or not getting around to executing a trade, etc.
- google for HSFX Asset Management....and no more
- google for HSFX Asset Management and no more
