Overwhelmed by Investing?
Too often in life we know what we want to do, know what we need to do, but get overwhelmed by the process involved in getting it done. Everyone knows that they should be investing. Your future depends on the money you are earning today compounding and earning more money for you in the future. Yet for many the process bogs them down. They feel like they don't know what they are doing, so they put it off, do other things, and a year later lament the fact that they still haven't started investing.
I received an email recently from a friend of a friend:
Hello lovely familia’ I met you many years ago, maybe 10-12? After my kiddo was born. My sister XXXXX & her partner at the time XXXXX introduced us all on a camping trip outside Bend Or. Anywho... I had a little flicker of an idea to possibly start buying stocks. I was told by XXXXX to buy your book, which I am happy to hear exists & will surely do it!!! But wanted to ask if you could give me a tiny/quick/3 step nudge of inspiration on where to start. Just steps 1, 2, & 3 so I can get a grasp on it all. Thank you either way. : ) Cheers!! XXXXX
Hi XXXXX, nice to hear from you! What a long time ago. I remember that weekend of dirt bikes and bonfires well! It's great to hear that you are interested in beginning to invest. For a total beginner it has never been easier, or less expensive, to get started. So let me give you a couple ideas to help you take that first step and get some money going to the right place. You can do this in under an hour, and it will likely end up being the most productive and profitable hour of your life.
1) Open an account with either www.webull.com or www.tastyworks.com. Over the past few years commissions on trading stocks has dropped all the way to $0, making it easier than ever for people to get started. If you are going to really dig in, or have a lot of money to invest, you might be better suited with a more traditional brokerage like Fidelity, or Merrill Lynch. But for just starting out these are easy ways to go about it, and you can always transfer out later if you choose.
2) Choose a few companies that you love and whose products or services you use all the time. Maybe you drive a Ford, and you love it. Maybe you're at Wal-Mart every other day for one thing or another. Maybe you are fully committed to the Apple ecosystem. Whatever it is, if you love the company then others should too. There is of course more to picking an awesome portfolio, but if you chose 5-10 favorites and bought a bit of each, you'll be off to a great start.
3) Try and commit via auto withdrawals to $X each month. Make it automatic and saving/investing will be sooooo much easier.
I run www.wandererfinancial.com these days, which is a financial newsletter and trading site. We've also got a great community of cool folks in our daily Basecamp chat. You can check out our site and see if that might be something you'd be interested in, too.
Anyway, number one thing with investing is to just gett started. So go open an account today. It's super easy. Link a bank account, get a little money in there, and buy your first stock.
Good luck!
Let me know if you have any other questions. Please say hi to XXXXX for us and tell her we miss her!
Pat
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