Welcome to all beginners, rookies, and newbies! This page will give you a brief tour of The Investment FAQ. On your tour you’ll gain a basic understanding of the world of investments. Sure, it’s a large world, with a distressing number of scams and frauds, but armed with a little knowledge you’ll be able to decide how you should sock away your hard-earned dollars safely and profitably.

The first stop on the tour: An article with a few words of advice for beginners. This article basically says you have a lot of learning to do, and offers a few suggestions for getting started. When you’re done reading, click the “Back” button on your browser to come back to this page.

The advice for beginners basically says that you should think about financial planning before throwing money at investments, so you might like to read about the basics of financial planning as your second stop on the tour.

Next we’ll move on to the article about mutual funds, one of the most popular investment vehicles and one frequently chosen by beginners. Mutual funds offer a way for the little guy to get into the market even with small amounts of money, and don’t charge an arm and a leg to do so.

Since mutual funds invest their monies primarily in stocks, your next stop on our investing tour is the introduction to stock trading. That will explain the fundamental steps of buying and selling shares of stock. After you have read that, it’s probably a good idea to scan the primer on stocks. You’ll learn why stock exists, why people buy it, and what some of the jargon means. While we’re at this tour stop, take a moment to read about P/E ratios.

If you’re curious about bonds, maybe because you’ve been advised to buy both stocks and bonds, then the next stop is for you; otherwise, just skip it. In the article on bond basics you’ll find out about these investment vehicles, why a rise in their prices is not always a good thing, and more.

Before you start mailing checks, read what the Wall Street Journal had to say about common errors that investors make. Hopefully you’ll learn from other’s mistakes.

We’ve almost reached the end of the tour. Because beginners are sometimes prey for various people who offer quick fixes, you might want to stop here to read the warning article about one organization that has gained significant attention in the press.

The last stop on the tour is the bookstore so you can read what the professionals have to say. The books listed here were recommended by other readers of this FAQ, and I’m sure you’ll find several that are appropriate for you.

Well, thanks for taking the tour! I hope you found it useful. Please use the link below to send me your comments, I really want to hear from you.