Expert: Steve Hach - 2/2/2008

Question
Dear Steve,

I know nothing about stocks and investing in the stock market. How can i learn that and how do i invest? where do i pay the money to buy these shares..i'm an IT Engineer and i know nothing about these commercial and money related investment practices.

Answer
Hi Stacy,

There are a few books that can really help a new investor.

One is "Investing for Dummies" and it is just like every other book in the "for Dummies" series, a good basic outline.

This book covers a lot of topics and despite its insulting title, it is a good read.

I would also suggest some of the books by Suze Ormond on how to handle money and invest.

William O'Neill is also a good author to look for if you want a more advanced discussion of the technically-focused approach to investing.

In addition to these books, you may find that reading a good newspaper like the new york times and wall street journal is very helpful.

I also like some of the financial blogs like this one:
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/

Hope this helps, and remember that if you are trading online it is best to reduce your costs as much as possible.

We like this place:
http://www.foliofn.com/index.jsp

many others also like scottrade or etrade.com.

The easiest place to start for many investors is their own IRA or company 401k plan.  That is usually a no brainer.

Also, if I could also provide some general advice:

AVOID DEBT
cut up or do not use credit cards
do not fall for "get rich quick" scams
save as much as possible from your paycheck
start now, even if you save a little bit per week--25-50$-- in 35 years this will be a huge sum of money.

Best,

Steve