Despite being the number one way for individuals to grow their wealth, there is still a huge portion of the population that is not leveraging the financial security that the stock market provides.
Many people are afraid that they might lose their hard-earned money. They may feel as though they don’t have enough knowledge or the requisite skills to be successful and let’s face it—the stock market is overwhelming.
The problem is, thanks to inflation, money that isn’t actively invested is gradually losing value. When faced with the dismal interest rates that savings and CD accounts return the picture becomes clear. The historic 7.5% return on average that the stock market has given investors is the best thing going to put your money to work for you.
After all, as the common saying goes “If you work hard and diligently save even just a little bit a month, after a year’s time you will be astonished by how little your money has grown.”
Participating in the market is the best bet.
This post is a review of a book that provides everything that novice investors need to know. At about 185 pages, author Ted D. Snow’s new Investing QuickStart Guidesmashes stock market myths and sets new investors up for success.
This book is a critical first step for investors who are looking to grow their wealth and secure their financial future.
Who is Investing QuickStart Guide for?
This is a book for new or first-time investors. I should mention that even though some day trading concepts are touched on and explained this is not a book for people who want to learn the high-risk day trading approach.
The concepts that Snow covers in his Investing QuickStart Guide are for long term investors. This long term approach helps reduce risk and maximize returns, but no matter your financial goals this book has something for everyone.
Who is author Ted D. Snow?
Ted D. Snow, CFP®, MBAhas been working in the financial services industry since 1987. He has contributed numerous articles featured in outlets like CNBC, Investopedia, and Forbes. Ted has appeared twice on D Magazine’s Best Financial Planners in Dallas list. He is the founder of Snow Financial Group LLC and holds and MBA in financial planning from the University of Dallas, where he graduated magna cum laude. Ted and his wife Mary live in he greater metro Dallas area.
What’s Inside Investing QuickStart Guide?
After the introduction the book’s chapters progress as follows.
“Chapter 1: The Language of Investing” contains essentially everything you need to get started in the stock and bond markets. Here you will learn about the most common mechanics of stock and bond trading, the buying and selling processes, and how to track and evaluate your progress in the market.
You cannot participate in the market without some form of brokerage service. “Chapter 2: From Brokerages to Robo-Advisors, How to Choose Your Investment Services” will offer a survey of the current financial services market. In this chapter the authorprovides something of an insider’s take on the industry and how to go about finding services that match your needs.
In “Chapter 3: How to Use Time to Your Advantage, Grow Your Wealth, and Fund the Perfect Retirement,”the book begins its tour of the core elements of market strategy. This chapter primarily focuses on long positions (investing with the expectation that a purchased security will gain in value over time).
“Chapter 4: Decision Time—Deciding When, Where, and How To Invest,” covers the various decision-making processes that go into the selection of a stock or other security. The description of this chapter is short but the concepts covered here are critically important for investors both novice and veteran.
“Chapter 5: Investment Strategies” broadens the scope of portfolio management and discusses dollar cost averaging and other basic strategies investors use to manage risk and maximize returns.
“Chapter 6: The Short Game—Speculating, Risk-Taking, and Embracing the Drama of the Market” introduces investment instruments and strategies associated with more short-term and high-risk investments. The trading of options, penny stocks, and futures are discussed, along with the basic mechanics of short selling and buying stocks on margin.
“Chapter 7: Investment Psychology,” examines in depth the fallacies of “market timing” and other tempting but ultimately destructive investment behaviors. Here the unique advantages that disciplined investors have in the market become clear. If you have already started investing, I’m sorry to say you may find something you have already done here and cringe.
“Chapter 8: Beyond Profit—Promoting Ethics and Social Responsibility through Investing” delves into the phenomenon of socially responsible investing—investment approaches that screen out investments conflicting with one’s moral beliefs while emphasizing civic, humanitarian, and environmental values in addition to profit.
“Chapter 9: Investing Your Way to Financial Freedom” explores the techniques of the financially independent investors who have used the interest and dividends of their investments to retire early and to provide a decent (and often very modest) livelihood for themselves.
Conclusion
Published by ClydeBank Media, Ted Snow’sInvesting QuickStart Guide is a great read and an even better resource. Those who are new to investing will find all of the information they need to get started building their financial futures. On the other hand, experienced investors will appreciate the review of foundational investing concepts (and might even learn a thing or two!) 5 out of 5 stars.
Investing QuickStart Guide is available on Amazon.
One more quick thing…
Before I go I would like to leave you with this excerpt from the introduction to Investing QuickStart Guide entitled “The Risks of Not Investing.”
Many would-be investors stay away from the stock market because they do not want to put their hard-earned money at risk. Risk is a very important factor that should be considered very seriously by investors. But the existence of risk is not in and of itself a good reason for keeping your cash hidden under your mattress when it could be working for you in the market.
Snow then goes on to list inflation and lost growth opportunity—two key ways in which failing to secure your financial future through market participation can really limit your financial options down the line.
You may wonder what the benefit of starting early with retirement investments is. The intuitive response is that you’ll easily reach your retirement savings goal. However, that is only the very beginning. By getting started early, you can make investments in far smaller amounts to reach the same result. If you have time on your side, you’ll also be able to choose a variety of investments, diversifying your portfolio to lower risk and accelerate growth. Check Vector Vest to know more about this.
