What are some of the best pieces of advice when it comes to investing?

Standard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfolio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low -expense funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.

If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grows tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.

I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.

If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments.

Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky, so read these websites for further information. If you find it too confusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however.
Sources:
http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation
http://www.fool.com/school.htm
http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htm
http://www.diehards.org/readsites.htm
http://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investing
http://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basics

Asset Allocation Calculators
(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)
https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQuestionnaire?cbdInitTransUrl=https%3A//flagship.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducation/education
https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/DTAssetAlcEval
http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspx

Web forum: http://www.diehards.org/
(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)

529 plans: http://www.savingforcollege.com

Determine your goals and create an investing PLAN to reach those goals. Do a web search for "investment newsletters". Most offer sample copies. Read a few, find one you like and subscribe. Then follow that advice while you learn the tricks of the trade.

Allways understand what you're investing in.
Have an "asset allocation" that you follow
(including "position sizing").
Always have an exit plan for any investment BEFORE you buy it.
Don't try to time the market (long term investors).
Don't take investing advice from friends, relatives, talking heads (media ie; TV, Magazines, Radio & newspapers).
Be very cautious when thinking about buying the "HOT" stock or Mutual Fund of the month/year.

Read at least a book or two a year on investing.

There ya go!

Go to a qualified professional with a proven track record. Don't invest in high risk ventures unless you can afford to lose the money. A lower return, but a safe one is better in my opinion.

Study the investing books for a while before investing.

Do not put all your money in the stock market

Do not invest when the stock market is high, invest when the stock market bottoms out in a recession

Invest in mutual funds rather than individual stocks (less chance of losing your shirt.)

Bank CDs are completely safe

1) invest from surplus savings - not with borrowed money.
2) have long term outlook/strategy
3) collect all possible information about the stock/corporates in which you are like to invest.
4) sector growth must be seen first - then compare with chosen stock/corporates growth.
5) valuation - PE ; EPS; consistent dividend pay-out, book value. compare this with other stock in the Sector.
6) NOT INVESTING is a better investment when compare to investing in bad stock.
7) Countries recession period is the best investment time to invest.
best of luck

Do the research, know what your are investing in and get help from and expert if you have questions.

Think about this, if you want to invest you can always day trade. In order to be successfull in daytrade you and everyone need to have the right assistance. Such as a coach to teach you and guide you in the path of success. I say a coach because like in sports to achieve your goal you need someone to teach you the tequniques. E-mail me I can guide you to the right path. Good Luck.

Invest only in stocks that go up in value quickly. Good luck!!

60% of investing results are due to the psychology of the investor.

30% of investing results are due to money management and position sizing.

everything else accounts for 10% total.

***
98% of investing books are about the 10% part -- go figure

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