If you have been a regular reader here, you know that this website is about

* Evolution – Growing beyond your current circumstances and conditions
* Revolution – Fighting against the things in your environment that secretly work against you
* Hustle – Gaining a financial upper hand
* Power – Getting the tools you will need to step your game up

Becoming an investor is the best way to accomplish all 4 of the above. Alot of people wonder how some families maintain their “generational wealth”, wealth built up and handed down through the generations, and in most if not all cases, their secret is their portfolios.

And since the New Year is less than 3 months away, now is the perfect time to get started on your resolutions, one of which should be becoming an investor. Heres the first in a 4 part series to get you started.

Know the Rules

To achieve satisfactory investment results is easier than most people realize; to achieve superior results is harder than it looks. – The Intelligent Investor

Rule 1: Buy and Hold

It takes time to build your fortune in the market. DO NOT BUY A STOCK WITH THE INTENTION OF SELLING IT IN LESS THAN 4 YEARS! Buying and holding shares gives them time to appreciate (grow) and helps you avoid paying unnecessary fees (you pay fees every time you make a transaction).

Rule 2: Invest with Discipline

That means routine (remember my post on discipline?). Same amount, every payday, without fail. Compound interest and dollar cost averaging will start working in your favor and will multiply your earnings. Building wealth by investing in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds is less a matter of investment skill or luck than of patience and discipline.

Rule 3: Only buy what you know

Ever hear of Norfolk Southern Corp.? How about Akamai? Jabil Circuit? No? Then you have no idea how these companies make their money. If someone came up to you and said “Invest in me and I will return your money plus interest”, you wouldnt just give up your money without knowing how they planned on doing it, would you? Some of the best advice self-made Billionaire Warren Buffet has given to his peers is “Invest only in what you know”. Youve probably heard of Gucci, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, and Nike, so do a little more investigating of the inner workings of these companies and get some money out of the companies that you put much of your money into.

Rule 4: Speak the Language

When you start a new job, the company or department you work in seems to have a language of your own. After some time though, you hardly notice that you now speak the language. The same is true with investing. There are terms that sound foreign, but after using them for some time and hearing them in context, you will start to understand the language. Here are a few definitions to help you with the rest of this post

Compound Interest – Compound interest is money paid on the original amount invested and on the accumulated past interest.
Share – A piece of the company
Bond – Basically an IOU from a corporation, usually issued in multiples of between $100 to $5,000. Having a bond means the company owes you money and will pay it back with interest. The company uses the money to fund operations or launch big new projects.
Investment – An investment one which, upon thorough analysis promises safety of principal (the amount of money you put in) and an adequate return (money on top of what you put in). Operations not meeting these requirements are gambles, not investments.
Bull market – An increasing market
Bear market – A declining market
Commission – The broker’s basic fee for purchasing or selling securities or property as an agent.
Dividends – payments to a shareholder from a corporation. Think of it as a kickback from the company for being an investor
Portfolio - A collection of investments and holdings, such as gold, precious minerals (diamonds, rubies), property (houses, art, collectibles), stocks, bonds, etc

This is a very short list of the terms thrown around in the world of investing. The only way to master the language is by following the next rule…

Rule 5: Dont stop learning

No matter how much you think you know about the market, no matter what kinds of gains you make, dont stop learning. The market has a way of punishing people who are arrogant in their stupidity. If you find yourself asking more questions than you have answers for, then you are on the right track. Pursuing the answers to these questions will make you a more sophisticated investor. At the end of this post, I have included 5 books that started me out. Drop the funds and educate yourself – reading one of these books could save you years of effort and hundreds of dollars wasted.

Get in the Game

The best way to learn how to do anything is to actually do it as opposed to reading about it (one of my daily kicks in the ass is “To know and not to do is to not yet know”). Alot of people are scared of getting in the investing game because it looks more complicated than what it really is. But once you learn the language, do a little research, and get in the game, you will get a feel for what investing is all about.

Intrade

Intrade is what is known as a prediction market, meaning you are trying to predict whether an event will happen or not (whether or not the stock market will drop, Amy Winehouse will be arrested again, or Obama will succeed in getting a health care bill passed before the end of the year.) The “stocks” are priced between 0 and 100; the higher the current price, the more likely the event will happen (for instance, right now the stock for “A federal government run health insurance plan to be approved before midnight ET 31 Dec 2009″ is selling at 19.5, meaning everyone is predicting that it will have a 19% chance of happening). Since you have probably heard of most of the events being bought and sold, theres a better chance that you will make money than by investing in companies that you have never heard of. Getting started is pretty easy. You can open an account on the site in about five minutes by using a card or a wire transfer, there’s no minimum investment, and Intrade charges a flat commission of 4 cents per contract for each transaction. I recommend starting here to get a feel for buying and selling shares at different price points.

Sharebuilder

Sharebuilder is how I first started investing back in 2001. Just like Intrade, Sharebuilder is easy to get started, and while they arent free (you pay $4 for every transaction), it will cost you alot less to invest with them than with Fidelity or any of the other big names. Also, you can buy partial shares, which means just because Brekshire Hathaway (BRK.A) costs $100,557 per share doesnt mean you cant buy $20 worth of the stock and benefit from its appreciation. You dont open a Sharebuilder account to make trades every day, or to get into hedge funds, IPOs or futures and commodity markets (more on these in future posts) – Sharebuilder accounts are for buying and holding for the mid to long term

DRIPS and DIPS

You don’t need $5000 or even $500 to start investing, you dont even need a stock broker; I invested in good companies for $25 a month with programs called DRIPs (Dividend Reinvestment Programs) and DIPs (Direct Investment Programs). DRIPs and DIPs allow you to buy stock directly from companies like Wal-Mart, Target, and Yahoo. No extra fees or brokers to deal with, no confusion as far as what you are investing in, and no brokers calling you to pitch you more stock that you don’t need. These are great programs for first time investors who want to invest in companies that they know and trust. You can get started by contacting the companies that you’re interested in directly, and they will send you out a starter pack. Here are some DIPs to get you started.
Target DIP
Wal-Mart
Kraft
McDonalds
Exxon Mobile
Aflac
General Electric
IBM
Microsoft
Coca-Cola

In Part 2 of this post, I will go into reading financial reports, sectors and industries, and stock picking. Part 3 will focus on Mutual Funds, and Part 4 will consist of Treasuries, Bonds, and Foreign Investments. For now, get your feet wet and get educated, and diversify your hustle.

Further Reading

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