Expert: Gina Boykin - 3/2/2009

Question
I am 43yr old single mother of 4 + one grandchild, supporting all 5. I feel relative job security, steady moderate income. I have about $25,000 in CDs that mature at different times over the next 18 months. I have about $20,000 in a money market account.  My only debt is $90,000 on a mortgage at 5.7%.  I would like to invest somehow to increase my earnings over the next 10 years. My trusted brother advises me to go into oil.  He is in oil and gold.  I would like to try oil in small increments.  Where do I start?

Answer
The first place to start is education.  You should ALWAYS understand any investment you are planning to do, prior to investing.  Investing without understanding is the riskiest thing you can do.  You can get a ton of free information on the web – so that’s a good place to start. You also can try your local library, which usually has a large section of books on investing, or your local bookstore.  For the basics of investing, you can go to investopedia.com and  fool.com.  Both of these sites will help you understand basic terms that you will probably run across when you get to more advanced information.  You may also want to look into UITs (unit investment trusts) that invest in oil/gas.  You can find information on this as well through the Investopedia site.

When it comes to the more advanced information, that is where you will see websites that advertise different strategies. I cannot recommend any, but I can advise you to check these out carefully because most charge for information or the tools they may provide.

I would also suggest that before you begin trading with any real money, practice with “paper money” using a virtual account.  There are many websites that offer virtual trading.  The best place to have your virtual account is at the same broker you plan to use for your real money, because you will need to get familiar with the site, the options they offer, and how to maneuver and make trades.