investments

I realize this is a fairly old post, but I figured I would give my two cents anyways. I currently invest through ShareBuilder.com it is a great site to invest with! I enjoy it very much, it's quite simple to use and they have a lot of information regarding investment types and so forth. A few mistakes that people have a tendency to make are; 1.) Investing more than you are willing to lose. Investing is an addictive thing to do! It's exciting to watch the stocks go up and down, it's like a game and you're hoping to win. However, you want to be a smart investor, whenever you invest money you should not invest more than you are willing to lose. As with any investment it is a risk that you are taking. Only invest money that you can afford to lose. 2.) Being impatient / getting scared This seems to be a common problem. Stocks go down, people panic and sell because they don't want to lose all their money. In my experience things generally get better and it's best to just wait it out because it usually goes back up. 3.) Hiring a stockbroker. From experience they just scam your money. Whether they do it intentionally or not I'm not sure, but I always seemed to lose way more money than if I just did investments on my own. 4.) Not doing enough research / Doing too much research This is a slightly complicated issue. You want to be educated on investing of course, but you don't want to spend so much time educating yourself that you never actually invest. If you use ShareBuilders they tell you what different types of investments are, how they work, what the symbols stand for etc. My suggestion would be to just look that over, to learn the language of the investment and then to invest. 5.) Not researching the companies you are investing in. It is good to look over the company's 5 year portfolio and make sure that they are going up. You don't want to invest in something that is going to crash in a few years. I like to invest in larger named companies like Wal-Mart, YUM! Brand foods (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut), GameStop etc. Companies who are still growing and have the potential to grow. (This is not a suggestion to invest in this companies, only an example of who I have invested in). In a nutshell; it's good to do your research, only invest what you can afford to lose, and sometimes investing takes trial and error to really figure out how it works. Good luck!

As you mentioned, you have a limited knowledge about investing and the stock market. As many successful businessmen advice, educate yourself first on the basics of investing before you plunge. This will minimize or eradicate the problem on when to buy and sell, put in and draw out, and other risks associated with investing. Study carefully what you are putting your money. Even if it is small, it's still money! I appreciate people like you who are willing to take the risk and be accountable for what they do. Keep up!