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So i’m 17 and going to turn 18 september this year. I’ve been wanting to invest money but i’m not old enough -_- I’m interested in stocks, property renting, and CD’s. I would also like to learn about investing for retirement so i can retire around my early 50’s.I was told saving accounts were best than roth IRA’s, but personally i dont know much on how retirement accounts work. Any good books? I took a micoreconomics class at my community college but i learnt nothing about personal finance.
I apologize for any incorrectly written words or wrong use a grammar. I tend to think faster than i write.
But learnt is a word. Past participle of learn. Means to acquire knowledge of.

Security Analysis by Professor Benjamin Graham ..

Stock Market Profits by Richard Schabacker…

I checked four books on investing from the library today. The oldest is Rich Dad, Poor Dad from 1999. I also got a stocks book from 2002.

I have worked in personal finance for over 15 years and I would strongly suggest that some of the best books on investing that I have read were written many years before I was in the business.

I think you would be greatly shortchanging yourself if you eliminated books pre-1999 from your readings.

FYI: try to steer clear of the Suze Orman, Kiyosaki, Trump vapid, worthless books. WIth the exception of rich dad poor dad the original which had an excellent message communicated in a dead simple way that even the biggest bonehead could grasp, his other books were pure filler.

I would suggest a some slightly more difficult reads but much more rewarding ones, including books by Jeremy Siegel, Warren Buffet, Benjamin Graham and Nick Murray.

After reading several personal finance books, I’ve decided I want to start putting away about $600 a month into index funds. Where do I start? If I need access to the money (down on a house, for example) how long until I can access it?

You need to hook up with Fidelity, Vanguard, or an online etrade like account. You are looking for no load funds, these places don’t charge sales commissions. I like Fidelity better than anyone but Vanguard is good as well. I would recommend against the index fund though. Here is why, Lets say you have an index fund that invests in the S&P 500 index. You bought this back in June of 07, you continue to put your 600 per month in. As time goes on, it goes lower and lower and lower. As you look at the fund, you are wondering why this is happening.

Lets take the case of Bear Stearns: June-Aug 07 trades at $170-180 per share, now at $10.40 (approx.) per share. Would you personally invest in Bear Stearns, probably not. But your index fund has no choice! As long as Bear Stearns is in the S&P 500, your index fund can not sell it. That is the danger in index funds. When a 5 star stock becomes a booger, they can’t get rid of it.

I would go with no load freedom funds (target retirement date funds) to start. These automatically spread you out among the style box categories. Once you have built up 6 months of your income in this. I would branch out, try specialty funds, a little more foreign, or even individual stocks.

As for accessing the funds, as long as you go no load, you have immediate access to it, though you need to check for short term trading fees (some are as long as 30 days).

I hope this helps

This question was in my Bisness and personal finances book & personally i have no idea how to answer this question. Its a question of opinion….

Certainly some of the economy is based on private enterprise, like privately held companies or individual small business people. But to say our whole economy is private would be very inaccurate, A lot of companies, corporations or whatever their structure may be are publicly held thru stocks. Also many will say we have free enterprise and thats true to a certain extent, but by no means is the USA economy a true free enterprise system, simply look at the companies, farmers, entities receiving subsidies while their competition operates as free enterprise. True free enterprise would be all companies, entities operating on a level playing field.

I lost money in the money market and I know that there is someone that you can contact regarding your loss, I have tried to find out from several sources only to be led in the wrong direction.
I have seen advertisement regarding this matter and I have researched this only to find out that this advertisement was not for the state of Alabama but was for other states, I have also tried contacting some of the Money Management Companies here in my city but it seems that no one know ‘s who I need to contact.
I know for a fact that the people who took such a loss in the money market are getting some of their funds back due to the companies that were handling the stocks and fund’s did not have their clients best interest at heart and many people lost a lot of money because of the improper handling of the funds by their investors. I am trying to help my husband out with this due to it was his money that was lost and he is only wanting what is rightfully his. Help him if you can, Please!

If fraud is involved – this would be something to discuss with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)

I’ve just started working after college, and i’m looking for some advice on mutual funds – any books, ideas or personal experience would be great —
thank you!

Alright, let me first say that the answer that recommended moneycentral is a good one…the answer that said mutual funds are a bad investment is wayyyyy off… and the long answer with several sites may make you think it’s all way too complicated.
First, understand what the funds are… they are a collection of stocks that you buy shares in if you buy into the fund. Simple enough…where it gets complicated is: a collection of WHAT stocks? That’s why there are so many different funds…all are different avenues/ approachs to the same goal: invest to make money.
A weekend of reading at a few places should familiarize you with what’s available… and maybe what suits your age and goals. moneycentral, yahoo/finance, beginnersinvest.about.com
Those places give you the basics…then comes your choices: are you going to start with an IRA account or just a regular brokerage account…. then comes picking the funds you will initially invest in: do you just want to " start investing" or are you going to actively try to get better and better returns? Either approach is good for your future…just a question of " different strokes".
You can learn to compare funds using yahoo/finance…or MSN/money ( may have come with your computer) or money central msn/cnbc.
If you are going to be passive just buy into a " balanced " or " blended" or even a " life–cycle" fund ( the name of the fund usually includes your approximate retirement date…all companies have ’em just give them different names)
One suggestion: even if you are going to be passive, make that first fund something that includes " international" or " global" ( just a fact of life – that’s where the money is being made right now and for a few years to come)
If you are going to be more involved…get into a couple of funds… in sectors that look to have potential…like " energy"..
or " emerging markets" .. " telecom"
Also, read up on ETF’s…if your first investment is going to be under say $ 3000. , you probably can only get into one ( maybe two) mutual funds…but with ETF’s you can take " smaller bites" and spread your money into 3 or 4 sectors.
Last…you mentioned " just started working"…does your employer offer a 401k ? That can be your first introduction to " investing" if they do. If they do…be sure to get in…and contribute a percentage of your pay ( it should AT LEAST be an amount equal to what your employer will " match")
If you are " on your own"…don’t be overwhelmed by all these terms, choices, and opinions…it’s NOT anywhere near as complicated as it sounds…after you take the first steps it becomes soooo simple…just keep your eye on things.
Okay, one more " hint": there are some pretty decent people here on answers…if you read some answers and click on some of the " top contributors" and view a lot of their past answers…you may find a lot of info you can use…just something to do if it rains or you’re snowbound.
Good luck.

I know absolutely nothing about the finance and investment world, but I’d like to keep in touch with what’s going on in the economy.

What are some good books or free sites that will give me the low-down? Eventually, I’d like to be able to understand everything in the news about stocks, economy, etc. I’d also like to fluently read the Wall Street Journal, and similar publications.

Read the following:
"Personal Finance For Dummies"
"Investing For Dummies"
Great books to start.

I’m still in college and know very little about personal finance. My parents manage to get by but I really question some of their decisions at times because I’m further in debt with loans than my friends in the same situation. I wanna manage my own finances with saving, investing, debt management, stocks. etc. What are some recommendations for good programs or books for this? Thanks.

Without a doubt the best for me is TOTAL MONEY MAKE OVER, by Dave Ramsey. Learn how to live your life to become debt free, and especially start young, and be really free of credit interest in order to be financially stable early. You also become quite healthy for your retirement.

Check out his web site http://www.daveramsey.com.

I just read this article and I thought that it was talking about "stock futures" so I asked a question about futures and now everyone is saying that I am actually talking about options.

I sped read the article but I could have sworn it never mentioned the word options and was talking about buying futures contracts for stocks, not commodities.

Heres the article, thanks:

http://money.howstuffworks.com/personal-finance/financial-planning/stock-future3.htm

No, it is definitely talking about stock futures, not options.

I don’t know what your previous question was, but perhaps some people got confused because both futures and options use leverage to multiply gains (and losses) and both have expiration dates.

I’ve had a few jobs and now I’ve got retirement accounts in different places. Would it be better to keep all my personal finances (retirement or otherwise) in 1 or 2 financial institutions or have several different ones (should one place fold?)? No one ever covers this in all those advice columns, articles, lectures. Thanks.

Banks are insured so don’t worry about one folding unless you have over the insurance limit of $250,000. I would consolidate if my cash and CDs were below that. My stocks are in mutual funds so that’s not a worry at least as regards to who holds the certificates so I have one brokerage.