Expert: Dr. Joseph de Beauchamp - 7/14/2007

Question
me and my wife own a cafe. the hours are long and hard but the bills are paid. i had a costomer tell me little bit about stocks and how if you do it right it can be a good investment. whats the best way to start or try it

Answer
I would recommend that you take the time to do some research. This is free and available at the local library. You should read through the Valueline and the Morningstar books. The result will probably be that you choose a mutual fund and invest small amounts for long periods. Morningstar holds much information on mutual funds. Investing in US Government Savings Bonds at a local bank is another good source of taking little risk.

I think that these stories of being able to "trade" and support yourself by stock market border on fantasy. Warren Buffett is published and one of the few that has invested in the stock market and made money. The market has yielded less than 2% for the last 8 years, so I doubt the stories are true.

Dr. Joseph deBeauchamp