HOW TO INVEST 2

First, douse your debt

After learning why investing is a smart thing to do, you're probably itching to take the next step. You want to drop everything and start investing right now. But hold on! Would you start running a marathon without first stretching? Would you pour syrup on the plate before the pancakes are done? Having dazzled you with the power of compounded returns, we want to make sure that same principle's not working against you. Before you start investing, you've got to get rid of your high-interest debt.

The very same principle of compounding that helps your investments grow can quickly transform a dollar of debt into a few hundred dollars. Does it make sense to try to save money even as your debts are multiplying like bunnies? No way. Although some kinds of debt may be low-interest or tax-advantageous (such as your mortgage), you'll want to free yourself from the high-interest stuff before you begin to invest.

Every dollar you can put toward investing will work for you. And every dollar of yours kept out of the pockets of financial professionals or full-service brokers is also creating value for you. (We'll get back to this point later.)

Pay yourself first

To become a successful investor, make investing a part of your daily life. That's not as great a stretch as it may sound. After all, you make decisions that affect your finances every day, whether you're ordering a $7 glass of wine with dinner or getting a home equity loan to pay down credit card debt.
We're not suggesting that you obsess over every penny you throw into a wishing well. (Please don't embarrass your mother by diving in after it.) If you pay yourself first, you won't have to.
You already pay the companies behind your credit card, gas, water, electric, cable, and phone bills every month, right? Why not add yourself to the list? Heck, put yourself right at the top. Set aside a chunk of money to save or invest when you first get your paycheck, and you can happily forget about it for the rest of the month.
The Motley Fool recommends that you save as much as possible; 10% of your annual income (total, not take-home) is a good goal. Depending on your obligations, you may be able to save more or less. The more you save, the more wealth you create -- but anything is better than nothing. Even a few dollars saved now will be worth more than lots of dollars saved later.
With online banking and brokerage services, it's easier than ever to set up automatic monthly transfers between your checking account and a savings account or investing vehicle of your choice. You'll be surprised how easy it is to live on a little less money each month -- in fact, you probably won't even notice the difference.
Don't hesitate to be flexible about your savings. If you find yourself truly pinched for pennies once all the bills are paid, perhaps you're paying yourself too much. Perhaps you're not yet in a position to start paying yourself at all. That's perfectly OK -- but as soon as you can feasibly start saving, jump right in! The earlier you start, the better.

Active and passive strategies

The two main methods of investing in stocks are called active and passive management, and the difference between them has nothing to do with how much time you spend on the couch (or the exercise bike). Active investors (or their brokers or fund managers) pick their own stocks, bonds, and other investments. Passive investors let their holdings follow an index created by some third party.
When most people talk about stock investing, they mean active investing. It may sound like the superior strategy, but active investing isn't always all it's cracked up to be. Over the long haul, most actively managed stock mutual funds have underperformed the S&P 500 Index, the most popular and prominent benchmark for index funds.
In that light, you can understand why some people want an alternative to "active" management. Many people who just want a return roughly equal to that of a major stock index prefer passive investing. Beyond the S&P 500, you can find passive investments in many indexes, including the Russell 2000 for small-cap stocks, the Wilshire 5000 for the broad market as a whole, and various international indexes as well.

Investing versus speculating

Right about now, you may be thinking about that brother-in-law who "made a killing" in options. Or maybe you're reminiscing about the Nevada vacation when your one lucky quarter magically drew out 700 more with the pull of a slot-machine lever. Why put your money in slow-and-steady investment vehicles that merely promise double-digit returns, when you could have near-instant riches? With compounding, you have to wait patiently for years for your riches to accumulate. What if you want it all now?
Granted, there's nothing exhilarating about predictability. Matching the performance of the S&P 500 won't make you the life of the party. But neither will the far more common tales about how you lost your savings on some speculative gamble -- nor a recounting of your subsequent adventures in bankruptcy court.
You don't need a card dealer, dour strangers, or Wayne Newton background muzak to gamble. Plenty of stock market gamblers do an admirable job of losing their money on seemingly legitimate pursuits. At The Motley Fool, we believe investors "gamble" every time they commit money to something they don't understand.
Suppose you overhear your best friend's dentist's nanny talking about a company called Huge Fruit at a cocktail party. "This thing is gonna go through the roof in the next few months," she says in a stage whisper. If you call your broker the first thing the next morning to place an order for 100 shares, you've just gambled.
Do you know what Huge Fruit does? Are you familiar with its competition (Heavy Melon)? What were its earnings last quarter? There are a lot of questions you should ask about a "hot" company before you throw your hard-earned cash at it. A little knowledge could help keep you from losing a lot of money.
Remember, every dollar that you speculate with and lose is a dollar that's not working to create long-term wealth for you. Speculation promises to give you everything you want right now, but rarely delivers. In contrast, patience all but guarantees those goals down the road