Investments Newbie-Where do I start?

[donna007]

Hi, I finally checked out the finance side of the site, very interesting.
I was wondering if anyone can direct me to a finance for dummy kind of website, I have some money in my account that I wish to invest instead of having it sitting there, any help is appreciate it.
OR if anyone is interested in giving a quick lesson here is appreciate it as well. ^_^
Thanks

[nothingfancy]

If you are new to investing, I would suggest not going it alone and contacting a Certified Financial Planner (or someone with similar experience). We invest with a CFP though investment companies like Investors Group, but I believe you can also get the same service through a bank.

[mzsmartypants]

I follow this one:

http://canadiancouchpotato.com/about/

and

http://www.fundlibrary.com/start.asp

Good luck!

[dagney]

Watch BNN channel, also check out www.stockhouse.ca and put the symbol of the stock you are interested in. If it is a smaller amount of money ie) 10,000 and under start with a mutual fund with low management fees.
I would stay close to home if you are buying a stock
ie) loulou lemon I work in a high school and started noticing all the students wearing this clothing but was on summer holidays when the stock went public.
- watch companies close to where you live or oil companies in the case of Alberta, BC or sask.
- you will hear if a company has to add an extra shift to there production line.
- watch what you and your friends r buying ie) Dollarama, Home Depot, Rona, Shoppers Drug Mart, etc.
You will watch your money much closer than any investment advisor. The advisor will call his "big clients" first in the case of changes in the market place and the "little fish are left to swim on their own".
My personal experience and I have been trading stock for 25 years plus.

[donna007]

Thanks for the tips ^_^

[tjthemanto]

Thanks for the tips ^_^

Be careful with Financial Planners aka Financial advisors ..they are dime a dozen .

Very few are honest & trustworthy ..most of them are only interested in churning your portfolio for their commisiions .. so be careful .

They will sell you stocks & mutual funds on which they make maximum commisions & plus will keep on buying & selling ( aka churn ) to maximize their trading commissions .

[ashedfc]

Your choices may be limited depending on the size of your investment portfolio....

I don't like to mention here in this blog; (but its a fact that) Most successful advisors, do not like to entertain smaller accounts; as its not worth the time & effort & the paperwork & liability, etc. etc.. It all depends on the size of your portfolio, as it has to be worthwhile for the advisor.

As far as do it yourself is considered: Most people make the following mistakes:
1. Buying too too early or too late
2. Selling too early or too late
3. What asset class to choose & in what ratio of diversification.
4. What type of account, tax implications,
5..... the list is endless..

So, you have to make your decision, as to what's the best approach.

Looking at the economic situation the world is in right now, where US running close to default, several countries in Eurozone running close to default (default is the technical term for what we commonly call as bankruptcy), rampant inflation in emerging markets, etc.. I would personally recommend to have atleast a small portion of your assets in precious metals. How you do it, with whom you do it, in what ratio, in what form, you need to decide...as to what is your comfort zone..

Keep in mind: Every individual has some sort of biased opinion, so proceed with caution.

[brunt]

Try this:

http://dripinvesting.org/

[mjaas]

bump, i'm interested to know too.

[dagney]

Check out money sense magazine. Maclean's runs an article on the best returns on mutual funds usually in late Jan. in time for the RRSP season (this will be several pages long). Check out the mutual funds with low MER's (management fees) plus good returns. You will find the "bank mutual funds" are not at the top of the list. The good companies do not plaster advertising everywhere, they don't spend their money on glossy ads on tv or magazines. Unfortunately alot of these low cost MER companies are getting bought out by our big banks and then the fees are jacked up ie) Bissett
Go to your library and check out last year's Maclean's article on the best mutual funds. Mutual funds are probably the way to go for diversification and if you don't want to put all your eggs into one basket especially for a beginner.

[nothingfancy]

Be careful with Financial Planners aka Financial advisors ..they are dime a dozen .

Very few are honest & trustworthy ..most of them are only interested in churning your portfolio for their commisiions .. so be careful .

They will sell you stocks & mutual funds on which they make maximum commisions & plus will keep on buying & selling ( aka churn ) to maximize their trading commissions .

Really? From what I understood from our investor, is that she makes commission regardless. If a mutual fund (which is most of our holdings) is advertised as having 8% ROR, than it's actual rate is 9%, and she shares that 1% difference between herself and the company she works for (these numbers are completely arbitrary).

[NickyC]

Nothingfancy; what you are thinking of is called a MER-management expense ratio. All mutual funds have this. Your example is based on an MER. What tjthemanto is referring to is commissions paid to the advisor by the mutual fund company. Most often they are called front-end or back-end loads. Investor's Group, for example, pay their advisor's commission. The riskier the investment the more the commission is paid to that advisor. Most bank financial advisor's are not paid commission.

[Shwa Girl]

Check out money sense magazine.

Yup.
MoneySense is good for the OP, starting out.
Also, if you work for a company that gives you discounted stock, grab it.
Worked for a grocery store chain and employees got 20% off the stock price PLUS they gave you 20% more each time you contributed. Sweet!

[nothingfancy]

Nothingfancy; what you are thinking of is called a MER-management expense ratio. All mutual funds have this. Your example is based on an MER. What tjthemanto is referring to is commissions paid to the advisor by the mutual fund company. Most often they are called front-end or back-end loads. Investor's Group, for example, pay their advisor's commission. The riskier the investment the more the commission is paid to that advisor. Most bank financial advisor's are not paid commission.

Hmmm. She works for an investment company, not a bank. Maybe it does depend on advisor then. She started meeting with us 10 years ago, when we had nothing but $100 a month to invest. I don't feel like she's ever treated us differently because we didn't have the big bucks.

[ashedfc]

Yup.
MoneySense is good for the OP, starting out.
Also, if you work for a company that gives you discounted stock, grab it.
Worked for a grocery store chain and employees got 20% off the stock price PLUS they gave you 20% more each time you contributed. Sweet!

This is not proper way of diversification (rather risk management).. This is exactly what Nortel employees (& several other employees of Enron, Worldcom, etc did) & the result everything was gone...

Its an ideal case of overexposure: too dependent on the prospect of one particular company. I am not questioning the future growth prospect of your existing company, but future tends to have lots of surprise.

Its good to take advantage of company discount: (& I fully recommend it- take the discount whatever available) but do not invest all your money in this one place..
Have some other asset class just to protect your risk exposure..