Investing 101: Back to Basics

As many of us will be going through ups and downs with regards to our income levels over the next several months, we thought it would be important to focus a little on the topic of investing.

Though not qualified to give investment advice, we do think it’s time that we all turn off CNBC, Cramer, and the rest of the TV talking heads, and regain some perspective on the world of investing.

Back to Basics:

We somehow stumbled across a collection of financial info called:  Investing for Your Future, an investing system developed by Rutgers University and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that provides a study course on investing basics.  This was largely aimed at college students entering the workforce for the first time, but we thought the information was excellent, and a great place to start fresh again:

From the site:

This 11-unit home study course was developed by the Cooperative Extension system for beginning investors with small dollar amounts to invest at any one time. We assumed that many readers will be investing for the first time or selecting investment products, such as a stock index fund or unit investment trust, that they have not purchased previously.

The various study units include:

1. The building blocks of successful financial management
2. Investing basics
3. Finding money to invest
4. Ownership investments
5. Fixed-income investing
6. Mutual fund investing
7. Tax-deferred investments
8. Investing small dollar amounts
9. Getting help: Investing resources
10. Selecting financial professionals
11. Investment fraud

Each unit contains a set of action steps to help readers decide what to do next. (And there’s a collection of all of the action steps at the end of the course, which can basically serve as a road-map to investing.) There’s also a series of monthly updates, as well as a glossary of financial terms.

It’s a great (free) resource, and a good refresher on Investment education.

Enjoy!