How should I get started investing? - The Help Desk - Personal ...

I have never invested in stocks and don't know where to begin. Any advice for someone who is looking to get started investing in today's market? -- Alexandra, Bethesda, MD

A: Before getting started be sure to ask yourself if you have the time frame and risk tolerance you need to invest in stocks. "The most important concept to realize is that this is for the long term," says Robert Schmansky, a certified financial planner and founder of Clear Financial Advisors in Bloomfield Hills, Mi. "If you don't have a seven to 10 year time horizon, then stocks may not be for you." What's more, you need to to feel comfortable with the possibility of losing a big chunk of your investment in the short term. The market lost 57% during the 2007-2009 bear market.

Assuming you're ok with those parameters, a good place to start investing in stocks is a diversified, low cost stock mutual fund. An index fund, which instead of picking individual stocks simply holds everything on the large-cap S&P 500 index or in the total stock market, is the easiest way to do it, and perhaps the smartest. Over the long run, most professional fund managers won't beat the market average, especially after expenses.

-- Walecia Konrad

Got a question for the help desk? Send it to helpdesk@cnnmoney.com.

Source: http://helpdesk.blogs.money.cnn.com/2011/10/24/how-should-i-get-started-investing/

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