Expert: Gina Boykin - 7/19/2009

Question
Hello Gina,

I've always had an interest in investing because I think its important to plan
for the future. This dawned on me a few years ago when I got a new job and
during the orientation, I was shown a video about the future of social security
and the prospects does not look good. Basically, it stated that by the time my
generation, Generation Xs reach the retirement, social society would either
disappear or there would not be much money by that time since the Baby
Boomer generation will use it all up. That frankly frightens me and I now
realize that I cannot simply rely on social security alone, I need a backup.

Anyway, I'm very new to investing so I don't know anything about it, except
that there's no such thing as a perfectly safe place to put savings and that all
investment involves the risk that you will never see your money again. I am
interested in both short-term and long-term investing.

1. How can I get started on investing?

2. Do you recommend that I take courses at my local college to get a better
understanding of how investing works?


Best regards,

Julian

Answer
It's great that you have an interest in learning investing!  There is so much information on the internet (for FREE# so that's the best place to start.  There are also tutorials online as well, so I'd start there before paying for a class.

Here are some great websites to get started:

youngmoney.com - Geared toward people of your age.  They also have a magazine you can subscribe to for really cheap.  There is a stock market game you can play to help you learn as well.

investopedia.com - This is basically an encyclopedia of investing terms. They also have tutorials #click on beginner to start#. This site has a stock market simulator so you get a better understanding of how the stock market works and how you place orders to buy and sell. It is a simulator, so you're not using any real money, which is great!

teenanalyst.com - This site was created by teens for teens #and young adults# so the information is easy to understand.

If you're a person who likes to read books and magazines, check out your local library. There are several financial publications that they should carry, as well as an entire finance section of books.

I highly recommend the book entitled, Rich Dad Poor Dad, by Robert Kiyosaki.  The library may even carry this #and other finance books) as a book on tape/CD, so you can listen to it in the car or around the house, if you're more of an audio learner.