-- Posted by yoghamp at 6:40 am on Aug. 21, 2008 Does anyone have any tips on how to start investing? Either in stocks or gold or all that stuff -- Posted by jamesish at 6:51 am on Aug. 21, 2008 Get a large amount to invest first.  Maybe get a savings account. Thats my only tip.  I say this because if you invest little amounts like say what you could live on, then it'll backfire ten fold if the investment doens't work out. -- Posted by Bitner at 6:57 am on Aug. 21, 2008 read about it. save up. if you're going into some high risk stock trading (day trading or anything like that) only use an amount of money you're willing to lose. -- Posted by the eConomist at 12:58 pm on Aug. 25, 2008 I would (and plan to) go to business school. That's really the only way you'll know what you're doing in the stock market. Aside from that, read newspapers and periodicals like the Financial Times and the Economist. Do not, I repeat, do not think you're learning from watching things like Mad Money or MSNBC. -- Posted by MrIndigo at 4:23 pm on Aug. 25, 2008 No... you don't need business school to learn how to invest. Business schools allow you to work in a big firm and stuff. Investment is something you can learn on your own. I suggest studying for the Security 6 series and the Security 2 series exams to start. Then, maybe go for a cfa. (this is really hard, and you can omit doing this.) You should at least have $25k to start off investing. Do not risk more than 50% of your worth. At least half of your funds should go with safer routes such as bonds etc. Start with Index funds, they usually will beat the inflation rate. If you have money now, several good mutual funds (with good long term gains over the years) have just took some losses, so now is a good time to get into them:) Look out for all those fees though:P -- Posted by the eConomist at 12:44 pm on Aug. 28, 2008 Quote: from MrIndigo at 4:23 pm on Aug. 25, 2008 No... you don't need business school to learn how to invest. Business schools allow you to work in a big firm and stuff.   Investment is something you can learn on your own. Having some training allows you to avoid being part of the herd and keeps you from investing in things like Junk Bonds, Subprime and South Korean construction companies. Sure you could figure that all out on your own but it's a hell of a lot easier to have someone teach you.