It's too late to sign up for classes... and there are funds on campus, but I feel awkward joining one without knowing anything. How can I prepare myself? Websites, books, etc? I want to learn, I just don't know where to start! =(
Investing
- Thread starter enwar3
- Start date
If I understand you correctly, you are looking for how to invest? Well, personally I don't think you need to take a class to learn how to invest and finance your money. If you are in college and not getting into debt, that's already really great lol.
You can start googling. There're tons of websites about investing. Maybe there're also relevant clubs on campus?
You can start googling. There're tons of websites about investing. Maybe there're also relevant clubs on campus?
Start with Mutual Funds for Dummies by Eric Tyson. He also had a book Personal Finance for Dummies.
Personal Finance for Dummies! Seriously, it's not a bad book for someone who just wants to learn the terminology to start. Honestly, it depends on how much money you make/have. If I were you, I'd start some sort of IRA. For example, I started mine when I was 18, I can only pay into it what I make annually up to $4,000. This may not sound like a lot, but it will be come retirement. It may not seem like fun to start putting money away for retirement at such an early age, but it'll absolutely take some of the burden away later in life.
Well another reason I'm asking is there is a club with 6 digits worth of capital that just lets members invest. You don't get to take any of it out, but it's a great learning experience. The problem is, they're not going to let a guy with NO experience in, so I should at least learn the ropes before introducing myself. They say no experience is necessary, but I still feel uncomfortable going in with nothing.
Just because a club has 100K+ of pooled money doesn't make it a good place to invest.
There have been quite a few "stock" and "invest" threads here, with search working better than before you might find and read through a few of them for opinions on stock picking vs. buying and holding mutual funds and ETFs.
Also, do you already have a high-interest savings account with several months' worth of living expenses in it? That's a good first step to help you stay out of debt.
There have been quite a few "stock" and "invest" threads here, with search working better than before you might find and read through a few of them for opinions on stock picking vs. buying and holding mutual funds and ETFs.
Also, do you already have a high-interest savings account with several months' worth of living expenses in it? That's a good first step to help you stay out of debt.
You could start by being smart.
My genius friend gets paid thousands a year to get his BS, and THEN... if he decides to do Grad school he'll be getting paid for that, too. He'll have $17,000 saved by the end of next quarter, I believe. I forget how much he said he would get per year of Grad school.
Other than that, my only advice is to watch Suze Orman every week.
My genius friend gets paid thousands a year to get his BS, and THEN... if he decides to do Grad school he'll be getting paid for that, too. He'll have $17,000 saved by the end of next quarter, I believe. I forget how much he said he would get per year of Grad school.
Other than that, my only advice is to watch Suze Orman every week.
Bernstein's The Four Pillars of Investing
Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Ferri's All About Asset Allocation
Belsky & Gilovich Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes
Vanguard Diehards <-- ask here
Malkiel's A Random Walk Down Wall Street
Ferri's All About Asset Allocation
Belsky & Gilovich Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes
Vanguard Diehards <-- ask here
Wait... I don't mean I'm actually investing my money right now. I mean I want to learn... to see if I want to take it further, like as a career.
I'll second the diehards recommendation - I learned a lot there.
Another good book is The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing, written by 3 regular posters on the diehards forum.
Nevertheless, if you want to sell investments or even if you don't, it's a very good idea to understand how to invest in the first place.
On the cover of John Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing is a quote by Warren Buffet which reads:
JEDI
Lifer
- Sep 25, 2001
- 29,391
- 2,738
- 126
huh? dont understand
general financial advice:
- dont go into credit card debt
- have 6 months expenses saved up
- 401k/roth: if you dont have *ALL* 3 of the following, put $ into a Target fund
-- knowledge of asset allocation
-- desire to rebalancing funds yearly
-- time
if in credit card debt:
- put $ into employer's 401k up to the match
- then pay off credit card debt
- then save 6months expenses (hsbc and citibank offer 5% interest as of 10/07)
- then max out roth
- then max out remaining 401k
Wall Street Journal Guide to understanding money and investing is good.
WSJ has a whole series of easy-read, illustrated guides that are pretty good.
I'd also recommend subscriptions to:
Smartmoney and/or Kiplingers -- they can sometimes be had for free or cheap from that free-magazine whatever.com site that you can probably search ATOT or ATfreestuff or ATHD for.
You could check out their respective websites -- as well as most major mutual-fund company websites like troweprice, charles schwab, vangard, etc.
Most of them have 'educational sections' on their sites which are a pretty good overview.
Other worthy sites are: clearstation.etrade.com, morningstar.com, aaii.org
Maybe pick up a weeks worth of WSJ or Investors Business Daily at the newstand.
I'm an aaii.org (American Association of Individual Investors) member -- and highly recommend them. They publish ~10 real issues/yr and they are very well written and thorough. Each issue usually has something good for beginners through intermediate+.
I've been a member for ~10 years so far and am still pleased with them.
If you've got a brokerage house in your city, call them and see if they have any free (or cheap) seminars. I used to work in downtown Seattle and there was one in the same building I worked at and they put on lunch-time seminars. It was 10% sales-pitch, 90% good general talk. Well worth the free admission (and I think they threw in lunch, iirc).
If you are really interested, take Accounting. When I was in college, we went over GE's Annual Report in detail and it was a great help in understanding business financials.
good luck
WSJ has a whole series of easy-read, illustrated guides that are pretty good.
I'd also recommend subscriptions to:
Smartmoney and/or Kiplingers -- they can sometimes be had for free or cheap from that free-magazine whatever.com site that you can probably search ATOT or ATfreestuff or ATHD for.
You could check out their respective websites -- as well as most major mutual-fund company websites like troweprice, charles schwab, vangard, etc.
Most of them have 'educational sections' on their sites which are a pretty good overview.
Other worthy sites are: clearstation.etrade.com, morningstar.com, aaii.org
Maybe pick up a weeks worth of WSJ or Investors Business Daily at the newstand.
I'm an aaii.org (American Association of Individual Investors) member -- and highly recommend them. They publish ~10 real issues/yr and they are very well written and thorough. Each issue usually has something good for beginners through intermediate+.
I've been a member for ~10 years so far and am still pleased with them.
If you've got a brokerage house in your city, call them and see if they have any free (or cheap) seminars. I used to work in downtown Seattle and there was one in the same building I worked at and they put on lunch-time seminars. It was 10% sales-pitch, 90% good general talk. Well worth the free admission (and I think they threw in lunch, iirc).
If you are really interested, take Accounting. When I was in college, we went over GE's Annual Report in detail and it was a great help in understanding business financials.
good luck
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