Every investor has to start somewhere, and if you're at the beginning of your investing journey - congratulations!
The simple fact that you’ve made it here, to this site dedicated to helping you get started with investing, sets you ahead of 75-80% of the world’s population. Did you know that a mere 20 to 25% of the world’s population actually invests. That number is as high as 65% for the USA (according to Statista), and as low as 1% for Indonesia.
Since you’re here, it means you have taken at least one step down the path to setting yourself and your family up for financial freedom. You’re considering investing. Bravo… seriously.
Investing in stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, and even crypto, has helped hundreds of millions of people to create life-changing wealth by putting their hard-earned money to work. Investing has helped single moms buy houses, and it has helped college and university grads pay off their student loans. And, as is the case for many investors, it has helped countless people enjoy a comfortable retirement.
And, more importantly, how does it all work?
This, ☝️ right here, is the part we all have to learn at some point if we want to become the master of our own financial destiny. Everyone who wants to become an investor needs to learn the fundamentals of investing, starting with the the most basic concept: WHAT IS INVESTING?
Everything I’ve learned about investing has been self taught – I definitely did it the hard way, but I’m glad I did it.
If you want to read a bit more about me and my investing journey, I wrote about it.
One of the most gratifying things I’ve done in recent years is to share my investing knowledge with others. Whether it’s a quarterly review of my spouse’s portfolio, a low-cost ETF plan for my sister, or sharing my investing approach over a beer at the pub with a long-time friend, I’ve always enjoyed sharing my insights, and hearing how others are thinking about their own investing journey.
I hoping you’ll give me a chance to help you too. I won’t ask for anything in exchange (really, there’s no course to buy, and most of what I share is free). Sure, I have some merch on my site, and I’d be happy if you purchased something that you like… but really, my goal is to share al this for free and to help more people achieve their financial dreams.
Since I’ve done this a few times, I have a bit of a plan that helps ease everyone into investing.
First, we’ll cover that most basic of topics: What Is Investing, including what types of ‘things’ you can invest in.
Next, we’ll dive into geography and talk about worldwide investing markets.
Third, we’ll look at Publicly Traded Companies (aka buying stocks), what an IPO is, owning shares, and talk about the most common stock markets around the world.
With that foundation, it’s then time to talk about brokerages and investing accounts – this is where we dig into what each account type is and what the benefits and drawbacks are. This includes RRSPs, TFSAs, and FHSAs (for Canadians) and IRAs, Roth IRAs and 401Ks for Americans. If you’re from another country (UK, Australia, New Zealand, etc.) I’ll cover the equivalent types of accounts in your home country too.
Next, and hopefully long before you buy your first investment, I have a few watch-outs for you including Beware of The Financial Media and What to Watch Out for With Financial Gurus on Social Media.
Then the good stuff really begins. We’ll look at the most common investment for beginner investors: ETFs… aka Exchange Trade Funds (spoiler alert: they’re probably the best investment for most investors, period)
Then we get into the more advanced topics like how to evaluate a stock, and what key metrics are important
Finally, to round out your knowledge of basic investing, we’ll look at the difference between dividend paying stocks and growth stocks.
I’ll also include an overview of bonds (and other fixed income investments) as well as crypto, gold, silver, and some other commodities.
Throughout it all, you’ll find some personal finance tips and tricks as well. Investing is not the same as personal finance, and personal finance is not just investing. They are intertwined, though, since we’re talking about your money here!
Start your investing journey
