how do you invest?

Christiane Cattano: I've found newinvestortoolkit.com has a great system for helping the novice investor get started. And it's free!

Minh Lefrancois: Everyone wants to be financially secure. If you have a house, your house may be your biggest "asset" early on, but you will need to live in it for the rest of your life. Do you want a financially secure retirement or a vacation house in the South Pacific? You must invest your savings if you plan to retire comfortably. Save. Before you can invest, you need money. Don't start investing until you have a secure job and six to twelve months of living expenses in a savings account, as an emergency fund, in case you lose your job. Learn how to budget your money and to spend your earnings wisely. Most investors have to be careful not to spend any of their profits, and to keep some aside for future use, and for retirement, as well as emergencies. Read. Before you start investing, you need a basic understanding of what a stock ! is, what it means to invest, and how to evaluate stocks. Get some basic books in stock investing. Aim to read every book on investing you can get your hands on.Value Investing: from Graham to Buffett and Beyond", by Bruce Greenwald is a concise summary of the valuation techniques to value assets, earning power, and growth, as well as profiles of several successful value investors. Think. Warren Buffett says that after you think, then think again. Warren Buffett says that if he cannot fill out on a piece of paper several reasons to buy a stock, then he will not buy it. Practice. Trade stocks on paper before actually trading stocks with real money. Record your stock trades on paper, keeping track of dates of the trades, number of shares, stock prices, profit or loss, including commissions, taxes on dividend, and short or long term capital gains taxes you would have to pay for each trade. It is also helpful to record the reasons for each buy or sell decision. Calculate your ne! t profit or loss less commissions and taxes for a meaningful p! eriod (1 year or more) and compare your results with a stock market index, such as the S&P 500 or the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Do not start trading with real money until you are comfortable with your trading abilities. Open a stock brokerage account with a discount broker. No specific recommendation can be offered here, as the stock brokerage business is a rapidly changing field. Trial and error is probably the only way to find a good broker, but you should do your own due diligence by checking out their site and looking at reviews online. The most important factor to consider here is cost, namely, how much commission is charged, and what other fees are involved. Discount brokers generally charge commissions of less than $10 per trade, some as low as $1 per trade, and some offer a limited number of free trades per year, provided you meet certain criteria. Other than costs, you should also consider whether dividend reinvestment is offered (which is the best way to build! up your positions), what research tools are offered, customer service, etc....Show more

Anton Waln: Investing is not too hard if you know the basics. Of course the more you know, the better you will do. In fact, I just started a website that intends to help people learn the basics and even some intermediate strategies like options and arbitrage that are really pretty easy once you know the principles and terminology. Learn more and see some of my opinions on specific stocks and strategies at www.hobbystockinvesting.com

Antonette Shappy: Investing strategies vary based on what each individual wants to accomplish/gain and how they want to do it. Some people are looking for high yield short term investments, others want a stable long term investment.It is always best to have emergency funds set aside before anyone thinks about investing, as well as three months of living expenses. If you do not have the aforementioned invest only what you can do without, as in mon! ey that you will not "miss."Some of the best advice I got in my life wa! s "invest in what you love" that is one of the best strategies. If you are into cars then might be where you need to look for investment opportunities.Hope this helps,...Show more

Tricia Dossous: Check out www.investlikeme.blogspot.com. It is a blog for beginner investors. The author shares his current portfolio and you can invest with him using twitter.