0 Spend

Visit a bookstore. Never buy a book like this online. Look through it first.
– Investing for Dummies
– The Idiot’s Guide to Investing
– Investing Made Easy.

These books sound like insults but they are not. Excellent books.
Will have a chapter on different brokerage firms.

I have Personal Finance for Dummies. A fantastic book.
You should read this first.
A library is likely to have these books. For free.

You made an "oopsie". Learnt is not a word. It’s Learned.
References :

Can I recommend you a website instead? zerohedge.com
References :

Hi there,

First, let me congratulate you for wanting to get an early start… that is such an important key to success.

I would suggest that you start with Peter Lynch’s "Learn to Earn". Mr. Lynch was arguably the best Mutual Fund money manager for a lot of years at Fidelity. He does a very good job explaining how to use what you already know to invest.

The next book I would suggest is Getting Started in Value Investing by Charles Mizrahi.

Some will tell you that there are two types of investors: growth VS value… that differential is nonsense. When you invest, you want a company that will make a lot of money that you can buy for less than it is worth.

Books by Joel Greenblat can be very good (such as The Little Book that Beats the Market).

The greatest investor, Warren Buffett, has gotten quite a following… sometimes they are called Buffetoligists… people that study his methods that allowed him to start with such a small amount, and build it into over 45 billion dollars. Mary Buffett (his former daughter-in-law) co-authored some books on his method… the New Buffetology is a good one, and will help give you a sense of some of his approach.

There are also some good discussion forums (such as morningstar.com’s discuss area) with experienced investors willing to help… keep in mind, if anyone tries to sell you the advice, it is often not worth the amount they charge… there are plenty of people that can help without looking to sell you anything.

As for a good retirement: When you qualify (you need earned income) if you don’t already, get a Roth IRA. It will allow your investments to grow TAX FREE… which means your retirement savings and growth will be protected from the tax man (important when one considers the tax implications of higher debts). A savings account will pay nearly nothing… which means inflation will eat up your returns.

You can get started before knowing a lot about investing by putting money into an index fund… or something like the SDY (the Dividend Aristocrats Fund… these are well established, dividend paying companies that have consistently raised their dividends for a lot of years). Tell the broker you want the dividends to be reinvested (so that your earnings compound).

Also, please avoid "penny stocks"… it is better to get one share in a great business like Berkshire Hathaway, then to get 1000 shares of a company that has never made a profit.

Good luck!
William

PS: For disclosure, I do own stock in Berkshire Hathaway… my inclusion of it here is merely as an example. While I would recommend the stock to anyone, I am not trying to convince you to select that particular one…:)
References :
Investor since 1992 in various markets, real estate and private firms.

Every investor should read Benjamin Graham’s "The Intelligent Investor". Warren Buffett describes The Intelligent Investor as "the best book about investing ever written.
References :

Security Analysis by Professor Benjamin Graham ..

Stock Market Profits by Richard Schabacker…
References :