So you want to get into the investment game and you’ve been sitting on the bench. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index is up around 18 percent this year through September and you’re apprehensive about getting back into the game now. Should you just run onto the field and start playing or wait for the coach to put you in at the right time?

The following are three essential questions that every investor should always consider before putting cash to work.

1. What is the money for?

It sounds simple enough, right? But there are many permutations to this foundational question since how you answer it will drive many other investing-related questions. The answer correlates to the goal of the investment, whether it is buying a new car, saving for college, retirement or something else. It is important to be specific about the goal of the investment because each goal should have a timeline associated with it and each goal should be categorized as either a “survival” or a “lifestyle” goal.  Read More…

6 Comments

  1. It’s always tough to know when to get in and when to get out. The smartest approach that has worked forever is to invest in the funds that follow the markets (e.g. S&P, TSX, Dow). Over time the stock will be up.

    There’s always a period where there will be a dramatic down slide but over long periods the overall portfolio is up..big time!

  2. What’s really sad is most Canadians have no clue about what one does when investing. It’s all about storing their earnings in low interest bank accounts too afraid of putting it anywhere else. Real shame 🙁

  3. You can always invest into penny stocks and practice online before getting your feet wet with your money.

    That is how i did it to learn the craft.

  4. Depends on how old you are.

    The younger the more you should take more risks with your money. If you have a family and much older you should be more conservative.

  5. Why can’t people understand that all you need to do is diversify, diversify, diversify? It’s that smiple. duh!

  6. So can someone give me picks i can read up on Financial Times or the Globe and Mail or some place to see if they would be good choices?

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