Money. Getting it & keeping it.

I really think everyone should read two books on investing before they start:
1.) Jason Kelly’s little book “Neatest Little Guide to Stock Market Investing” is an entirely worthy read because it’ll quickly bring you up to speed on much of the jargon and odd quirky things about securities and offer you a brief introduction to the most successful schools of investing. It’s a little book and an easy read.

2.) Benjamin Graham’s book “The Intelligent Investor.” It is the single most respected work on the market.

Then start building your future. Like Graham, I suggest you look at all the best of the American Companies and do the fundamentals in ‘em look at the numbers and learn a little about the business models and the market the sell to. Wouldn’t it be nice to land a few ten baggers? Don’t look for it. Slow and steady is the path to meaningful personal wealth. You may hit a ten bagger that way but, you won’t hit a slew of losers.

Don’t worry that you will lose money in the stock market. Of course you will lose money - - every one loses money~!! But, you only have to be right some tiny fraction of the time. If I could be right just 50% (yah 50%) of the time I’d be a Billionaire by now. If you haven’t got an investment portfolio that you manage and grow you should start one – AFTER you read Ben Graham’s book.

As an aside: Jim Cramer’s books are so totally worthless and disappointing that I used mine for starting fires in my fireplace. Do not purchase anything written by Cramer.

On the flip side of you are so leery of investing that you just won’t - or - can’t scrape up the $5 – $10-Gees you need to start, there is a supremely good alternative.

Open an ING or HSBC (or whoever) account. They are high interest accounts yielding as much as 5+ percent which is pretty damn good~!! I know many people who earn substantial money trading and investing in the stock market who think that a 5% year is a good year.

This account is one that you will NEVER take money from. It is how you are going to retire.

Put $100.00 a week in the account like it was the single most important in the world to do(and it is). If you haven’t got $100.00 then figure out what you have and put that away and do it every damn week.

Increase this sum by a fixed percent every year. I suggest 5% but if you can do more then do it.

So the end of the first year you will increase the sum you put away to $105.00 - Etc.

At the end of 20 years you will have well over a million dollars more like one-million three-hundred thousand.

Start now and make it your first priority for the rest of your life and you will retire well.