Chapter 1. The Basics of Investing in Stocks
Delayed gratification is a strong suit that few have and this is why investing
has always been a challenge for many. You want to make money but not in
a decade or a couple of years, but right now. Ponzi schemes aside, profitable
investments that can actually build you wealth for a lifetime take time and
lots of patience. These two things are probably the most important tools that
any beginner in stock market investing needs to be aware of.
Our motivations for investing may differ but ultimately all investments have
one goal in common; to make a return or profit on the investment. You may
be eyeing early retirement, you may be in it for financial freedom or maybe
you are just sick of having your money sitting in a savings account
attracting point nothing interest. Regardless of what your goals are, the idea
behind investing is that you use your money to make more money.
The stock market presents a unique opportunity for both retail and corporate
investors because anyone can do it at any scale. You can invest as little as
$1000 or as much as a million dollars. There are room and opportunity for
everyone to get in and make a decent return on their investment. That said,
the stock market is not the way to go if you want quick money. Stocks like
most other investments have one thing in common; they depend on the
power of time.
Time is your biggest ally when it comes to investing. If you have been
waiting for a magical moment when you will have “enough” money to start
investing, the bad news is that you will probably never have “enough”
money and the other bad news is that the right time to start investing was
yesterday.
A common misconception that most people have is that you need to have a
lot of money to start investing. In actual fact, people who invest do not
necessarily have more money than you, they simply make investing a