Friday, January 23, 2009

Things To Consider Before Your First Investment

By Rahn Naro

All of us want to make money when we invest, but it's important you understand your current financial situation before making a decision to invest in the market. This is true whether your investment is penny stocks or long-term blue chips. In order to determine this, you'll need to calculate your income and expenses, adjust the following to meet your personal requirements.

Mortgage Taxes Loans and credit cards Day to day living expense Emergency fund (make certain to put this in place) Transportation expenses Leisure activities Student Loans Other commitments to family and/or friends

When we begin thinking about investing, we need to first look at our own financial situation to determine what amount we can safely invest each month. It's always wise (that should read crucial) to invest with your surplus, and not your rent (by rent we mean any monthly expense you know will be spent).

In order to accomplish this and not invest scared money, it's wise to first save (put aside some capital), and use that money to invest with. How much you decide to put aside is your decision, but many financial experts recommend 10% as an emergency fund, then an additional 10% for investing. Different people will have different takes on these suggestions.

If you're single, this may not apply but if you're married with children, always put your family first. We may be investing to help our family, but we don't want to put them in jeopardy in case something were to go wrong. In order to accomplish this, you'll want to make certain your debts are paid, life insurance in place, and emergency fund has sufficient assets to help the surviving spouse begin a new life.

All of us are unique individuals, and look at, and deal with life differently; what is a risky investment to some, might be perfectly fine for another. Take the time, and now, before investing, to determine the type of investing you are comfortable with. Penny stocks have been very good to me, and I've built my career around them, they are not the only part of my investing portfolio. While I recommend that you give them a close look, they should only be one spoke on your investment wheel.

In real estate it's location, location, location, on Wall Street its diversify, diversify, diversify. While I believe strongly in penny stocks, I never put all of my eggs in one basket, since there are new penny stocks to invest in almost everyday.

Always take the time to either research before you invest, or be involved with a quality expert or a newsletter that knows your niche. Often times you'll find the best investments are those that run contrary to what your financial advisor, (usually very conservative) may advise. Just like investors, there are conservative and risky financial advisors. Take anything that is said as advice, not fact then research on your own. There is no such thing as a Wall Street crystal ball, but there are ways to obtain good information.

Never chase a losing stock, this is most often throwing good money after bad, it is much better to take your losses, learn from your mistakes, and live to invest another day. While we have seen many penny stocks rise as much as 25% in a single day, many continuing to increase 100, 200, even 500% in a week, this is not always the case. When you're on board with a winner, take your profits, reinvest and celebrate your success.

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