| During the last sixty years, a myriad of investment | | | | * After that, you need to establish the infrastructure |
| books have explored different approaches to | | | | to manage your savings. Opening a brokerage |
| maximizing the return on your savings. Most of those | | | | account is a straightforward process in most |
| theories have proved inadequate and, a decade after | | | | countries, although it seldom takes less than a week. |
| publication, few financial authors want to be reminded | | | | Many brokers accept orders by phone, but you are |
| of the predictions they made. | | | | going to need internet access for the purposes of |
| Simplicity is another characteristic that is missing in | | | | research. |
| most investment advice. Ideas that are too | | | | * The final steps of my suggestion require that you |
| complicated to implement are as good as worthless. | | | | establish an effective system to select your |
| In the field of personal finance, what we need are | | | | investments and devote a few hours per month to |
| prudent recommendations that anyone could follow | | | | implementing it. An easy method of researching |
| as long as he is ready to exert a minimum of effort. | | | | shares consists of identifying some reliable mutual |
| Rational investors should have a well-defined | | | | funds that invest in dividend-paying equities and using |
| long-term goal. That objective should be, quite | | | | the internet to look up their portfolios. |
| openly, to reach a point when they are able to live | | | | You will find the names of well-known mutual funds in |
| from the income produced by their savings. Such goal | | | | any financial newspaper. More often than not, the |
| has motivated generations to put aside part of their | | | | web pages of those firms indicate which shares they |
| earnings month after month. | | | | have been holding in their portfolios during the last |
| The great majority of the population cannot afford | | | | quarter. If you look up the web pages of a dozen |
| devoting hours on end to following the markets. | | | | different firms, you can get plenty of ideas about |
| What many of us want is to achieve reasonably | | | | shares that might be worth considering for your |
| good results with a minimum of involvement, but | | | | personal portfolio. |
| without relinquishing control of our assets. No one | | | | With those ideas in hand, the last step is checking if |
| should trust other people's recommendations blindly. | | | | they make any sense right now. This is something |
| My suggested method combines four elements that | | | | that you can do by typing their symbol in the web |
| are available to most individuals: a monthly income | | | | sites of free on-line financial discussion boards and |
| from their jobs or professions, the possibility to open | | | | publications, from which there are dozens. Reading |
| a brokerage account, internet access, and the | | | | several opinions and sources will show you how |
| willingness to devote a few hours per month to | | | | attractive those companies look as potential |
| follow their finances. | | | | investments. |
| * Nobody can make for you the commitment to set | | | | You will need several hours when you go through this |
| aside regularly part of your revenue in order to | | | | process for the first time, but once you bookmark |
| secure your future. This first step is the hardest to | | | | the web sites on your internet browser, your effort |
| take, since frequently, man sees old age too far | | | | will be drastically reduced the following months. No |
| away. As a general rule, the sooner a person decides | | | | investment system is foolproof, but you might wish |
| to take responsibility for his finances, the better his | | | | to explore this approach, which offers a good |
| economic prospects. | | | | balance between effort and simplicity. |