Investment Articles

In October 2009 the UK government introduced new contribution limits for ISA (Individual Savings Account) investors. From 6th October 2009, those aged over 50 can invest up to 10,200 GBP in an ISA. Up to 5,100 GBP of this could be invested in to a Cash ISA. For those that are under 50 years of age these rules will apply from 6th April 2010. Until then the old rules will remain in place.

This marks a significant increase to the contribution limits for ISA investors. The ISA was introduced in April 1999 when the original limit was 7,000 GBP. It was then increased by just 200 GBP to 7,200 GBP in April 2008 after some nine years of waiting for the contribution limits to be increased.

However it is thought that even this seemingly nominal increase was just to make it easier for investors to put away the round number of 600pm GBP into an ISA, rather than the unusual looking 583 GBP. So this new increase should be seen as the first real increase to the limits in over 10 years. Why now? Well the government wants to encourage UK investors to put money away for their future and be more financially sound with their money. Investing in an ISA can help you achieve this.

Other than the personal pension no other product on the market can offer such a wide choice of investments as well as such generous tax incentives. Not having to pay capital gains tax on your investment profits or not having to pay income tax on your savings cannot be underestimated.

By maximising the use of your annual ISA allowance you can build up a substantial sum of money held within this tax advantaged product. So unless you have a larger portfolio there is no reason why any of your assets should be held outside of an ISA and potentially subject to capital gains tax when they don’t need to be. So if the government is extending their generosity by increasing the ISA limits then it should certainly be a decision that all investors are happy about.

Please note that all tax bases, levels and reliefs are subject to change at any time and are dependent on individual circumstances.

Jaskarn Pawar, Director, Investor Profile Ltd.

If you are a UK investor with ISA, Personal Pension or Unit Trust investments then Investor Profile’s free online investment monitoring service could be what you need.

Will Rogers is quoted as saying “More important than the Return on your Investment is the Return of your Investment.”

To me that means you should diligently safeguard all your online investing account details and ensure you have a robust plan to achieve this.

The Bad Guys are Clever

The longer you’ve been on the internet the more it becomes an integral part of your life. It provides services that save you time, effort and hassle. It becomes your shopping plaza, your bank, your social calendar and many other useful things.

Of course to do this you have to ensure that the services you use are protected so that your details are known only to you. As you encounter more and more sites that require you to create an account with a user name and password the more you’re inclined to grow weary and end up by using the same details for each site you visit.

You convince yourself that life is easier that way. Unfortunately you are playing right into the hands of online crooks who use a myriad of ways to entice you to give up your information. You may even be caught out without realising it until its too late and the damage is done.

And of course there’s always the chance that hackers find there way into a database where your details are stored. Without you even knowing it your details are compromised.

Trust Nobody

So what should you do to make sure that you keep your account details secure? Firstly always be suspicious especially when visiting a new site on the internet.

If you have accounts at several online investing programmes make sure that the details you use for username and password are always unique. This way if your information is somehow compromised on one site then it won’t be able to be used against you on others.

Don’t forget that we humans are creatures of habit so if a crook finds your details on one online investment programme they are likely to test other similar programmes as there is a good chance you might have invested there as well.

Simple Strategies to adopt

It should go without saying that whatever method you choose to create user names and passwords you need to keep a record.

SIDEBAR: If your memory is anything like mine you can’t remember where you parked the car half an hour ago let alone what user name and password you are using on a site you visited three months ago.

If you are just a little creative with user names you’ll not only create new ones but they can also be used to remember when you joined. Let’s assume your name is Mike and you join a new online investment programme on 01 December. To help you protect your details and at the same time remember when the account was created you could use a user name like mi01ke12 (I’m using the UK date format).

For passwords something more sophisticated is needed. This is where it pays to do some online research and find a software tool that does all the hard work for you. You must create strong unique passwords for any online investment programme you belong to.

Free programmes that have received great reviews are:

Roboform
Keepass (the one I use)
Access Manager
I’d recommend you take each one for a test drive to see which one you feel most comfortable using.

SIDEBAR: Don’t forget to change passwords regularly to provide an added degree of protection

Adopting these simple strategies will ensure that you can protect your valuable information easily and keep the bad guys at bay

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com

From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

For online investing to be treated seriously as a viable option the companies involved need to demonstrate commitment to investors.

When online investment programmes first started they quickly gained a bad reputation as many of them were revealed as scams. This severely damaged the public view of these opportunities and that perception still exists.

I believe it is time for things to change. The global economic crisis has shown that even well respected financial institutions cared little for their small investors with the result that interest rates on savings accounts are now derisory.

This is a golden opportunity for online investing companies to attract these disillusioned people but they must do it in a credible and honest way.

Is regulation the answer?

Nearly all online investments make it abundantly clear that their dealings fall outside any existing regulatory framework as they want to avoid members running to the authorities at the merest hint of a problem.

There are many horror stories where online investment companies have fallen foul of regulators (especially in the US) and the result has virtually always been losses for investors. So, I don’t believe online investing companies would currently welcome regulation under current legislation. Ultimately, this may be an aspiration as authorities learn and understand more about how these companies work.

Where to Start

So if formal regulation isn’t viable what alternatives exist? Some companies may argue that their industry is currently being regulated by the myriad of online monitoring sites as these demonstrate whether programmes are paying or not.

Personally I don’t believe this is the answer as monitoring sites can only work in a reactive way and are not that useful for predicting whether an opportunity is viable to start off with.

To my way of thinking there are two options to consider:

An independent group of investors could be set up to undertake due diligence on a programme that wishes to offer online investing services. They would need access to the company to be able to verify the claims that are being made on how funds are generated and the people involved
A self regulating body set up by the companies themselves which would define a code of practice that companies would need to adhere to if they wish to join. This should also include investor representatives as this is a key element of trust building

Time for Change

For too long online investors have suffered poor service, patchy communication and untrustworthy programme administrators. As I look at some of the online programmes today I can see that things are changing but we are still not at a point where the ordinary investor would consider an online investment as a viable alternative to basic savings accounts for example.

Clearly there will always be greater risk involved in online investments but I don’t think programmes should hide behind that as an excuse for poor service. If the risks are explained fully and clearly, if programmes communicate often and honestly then I believe the industry would reap great rewards both in terms of their own reputations but also in the number of people that would trust them with their investments.

Isn’t it time online investors were offered a better and more reliable service…

For more great tips and commentary on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com
From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

Online Investing can be a realistic source of additional funding as long as you take the time to research things properly.

In my first 7 tip article I introduced online investing beginners to some of the key things that they need to do to be successful. But of course there are always other things that will help to ensure success and this article aims to help with that.

1. Use software to manage confidential information

As soon as you decide to invest online develop a strategy for keeping your account details secure. Be mindful that online investment opportunities are tempting targets for thieves. Use a robust strategy for user names and passwords to minimise the chances that anyone could access your account. Do not use the same user name and password for more than one account.

SIDEBAR: Search online for free software that will help you with this

2. Find an ecurrency exchanger

Online investing programmes use payment processors to manage deposits and withdrawals. Financing payment processors can normally be done either by a direct payment from your bank account or through an e-currency exchanger. Make sure that the e-currency exchanger you use has a verifiable track record and deals with your transactions quickly and efficiently.

3. Do your own research

As you will be investing your own money in a programme the onus is on you to do the necessary research into its viability. There are several good sources of information available to you which will enable you to make your decision. One thing you should be aware of is that online investment websites are not always the best source of information and should always be treated with caution.

4. Find something you have an interest in

As you should treat any online investing as a business it makes sense to look for online investments that you have an interest in. Currently there are programmes that specialise in forex, sports arbitrage, investment funding and environmental projects to name a few. By focusing on one area to start with you will learn to spot trends and how these may impact the investments you have.

5. Decide whether you want passive or active

The decision to get involved in either passive or active online investments will depend heavily on the time you have available and your knowledge and interest in a particular area. The advantage with active trading is that you keep full control of your funds whereas with a passive approach you are entrusting your funds to a group that you may know little about.

6. Use Discretion

Not everyone you know will be supportive of your attempts to invest in online programmes. Don’t let this put you off, it is highly likely that they know very little about the subject and speak from a position of ignorance and fear. Keep your dealings private and don’t broadcast your involvement widely as discretion will serve you well in the end

7. Diversify

Even if you start out with a limited bank be prepared to invest in more than one opportunity straight away. Given the higher risk profile of online investments it is crucial that you develop a strategy for diversification right from the outset. Whilst this may mean your funds could grow at a slower rate you are reducing the potential to lose them all if a specific programme fails.

Nothing is more important than protecting your own money…take the time to get it right

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com

From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

If you are just beginning in online investing should you take advantage of a programme that offers a very low $5 initial deposit. Just to be clear here I am focusing on online investing programmes that are based on a passive investment approach i.e. you make an investment on the basis of the programme paying a fixed or variable rate of interest per day or week.

With such a low entry point are the online investments being realistic about their offer? Well in one sense I think you can say they are. As many people distrust these forms of investment, companies need to come up with ways to allow people to try what is on offer at little risk. One way to do this is to set the entry point low and assuming things perform as planned the investor would be persuaded and therefore happy to invest more. So as a marketing ploy this approach could be considered acceptable.

For the more cynical observer there could be a view that the programme is going out to attract as much cash as possible before heading off into the sunset. Personally I find this rather short sighted, of course some programmes do fail but as long as a potential investor does their homework it should be possible to root out the bad apples fairly easily before parting with funds.

Practicalities can get in the way

More importantly perhaps is the practicality for beginners to realistically fund a programme with say a $5 investment. Unfortunately you can’t just walk into the nearest branch, put your $5 on the counter and walk out with a receipt. In practice there are a number of hurdles to jump before your investment can start earning.

In a companion article, Online Investing For Beginners and the Tortuous Route For Deposits and Withdrawals, I describe some of the companies that you need to have accounts with when funding an online investment but I didn’t delve into the costs involved. Let’s take a closer look at just what sort of fees you could encounter. I can’t be precise here but the figures I’m presenting are typical and should be considered when investing in any online programme. I’ll use US$ for comparison purposes (I’m making the assumption that bank wires aren’t an option as they generally require quite a high level of investment to be used).

In most cases your funds would need to leave your account and go to an e-currency exchanger. There is generally a minimum fee attached to any transaction which is normally in the region of $25. If you are converting funds from another currency you will also be penalised on the exchange rate (this can be fairly significant). As the funds go from the e-currency account to the payment processor there may also be a charge from the payment processor for receipt of the funds. You wouldn’t normally be charged any fee for making the investment to the online programme itself. In summary you are therefore looking at a minimum of $25 and perhaps a maximum of $30 to $40 to get your investment started. Clearly for a $5 investment this doesn’t make a lot of sense.

What is realistic?

So, as a beginner how much should you consider as a starting amount to invest? In reality I believe you have to consider $100 as an absolute minimum given the charges involved and how long it would take to not only recoup your seed money but the associated charges as well.

The $5 option is more suitable for those who already have payment processor accounts and receive interest from their existing investments.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com
From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

Recently I had cause to curse the workings of the great financial giants that astride the currency markets. Now I’m not suggesting that I fell foul of currency crooks for millions but in it’s own way I was frustrated by the money system.

I wanted to make an investment in a particular programme that traded in Euro’s. As my home currency is the British Pound it seemed fairly straightforward. All I had to do was send my GBP to a payment processor, use their services to convert to Euro and make the investment. Unfortunately things didn’t work out quite like that.

There was no problem sending the funds from my own account to the payment processor. Next was the conversion to Euro’s. Cringing at the less than favourable exchange rate I was presented with I nevertheless pressed the submit button and hey presto my original GBP miraculously turned into Euro’s.

Then I made the payment to the online programme. All sounds pretty simple really and there is where things went wrong. When I logged in to the online investment plan I realised that the amount of Euro’s I was expecting wasn’t in the account.

As I’d done a similar transaction in the previous week I wasn’t expecting any problems so this was something of a shock. I submitted a support ticket to the online investment group and asked why the funds I had invested weren’t as I’d expected. I was anticipating a reply to say that a mistake had been made and that my full amount would be credited.

What I got was a reply to say that they had invested the sum they had received from the payment processor. Yet I knew that the sum I’d converted was higher than I was seeing on the screen. Doing a little more research I discovered that the online investment programmes’ account with the payment processor was designated in US$.

So, I’d converted GBP to Euro’s in the belief that when I paid the investment account it would transfer the whole amount of Euro’s. That’s where my assumption went awry. What happened in practice was that when my account had been converted into Euro’s the processor then converted the Euro’s to US$ so that they could be applied to the investment company account. These US$ then had to be re-converted to Euro’s to be placed with the investment programme. The result of all this was a cost I wasn’t expecting!

Moral of the story is to check just what machinations your funds have to go through to get from your account to its final destination.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com
From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

One of the main selling points to sign people up in Sports Arbitrage Trading is that it is a Risk Free Opportunity. This is partly true. Once the Arbitrage Trade is confirmed then you will be guaranteed a return and hence it becomes risk free. The problem therefore arises before you finally commit to the arbitrage trade and that’s what I want to explore in this article.

There are five key reasons why you may not be able to successfully execute an arbitrage trade with a guaranteed profit. Whilst most companies who market Sports Arbitrage Trading will make some reference to some of these reasons it is not in their interest to put too much emphasis on the downsides that they represent, hence anyone thinking of getting involved in Sports Arbitrage Trading needs to be especially diligent.

I started Sports Arbitrage Trading some years ago and fell foul of most of the issues I describe in this article at some stage. My aim is not to deter people from Arbitrage trading as, if done correctly, it can be a profitable business but I am keen to ensure that new traders are aware of potential pitfalls.

In summary the 5 reasons are:

Bookmakers restrict how much you can trade
Odds change such that the arbitrage no longer exists
Bookmakers have different cut-off times for trades to be placed
Bookmakers have different rules for certain sports
Money Management
Let’s now explore each one in more detail:

Bookmakers restrict how much you can trade

In general most bookmakers welcome clients even though they might realise that they are arbitrage traders. They realise that whilst in some instances the wager placed with them might win there is also an equal chance (strictly speaking of course the odds on offer should reflect the true chance) that it would lose, hence they would make a profit. So, whilst they may not publicly acknowledge that arbitrage traders are encouraged they recognise that it will bring business and ultimately enhance their reputation by having a growing and active client list.

Some bookmakers however can be more guarded in their acceptance of clients. In my personal experience I ended up with two bookmakers who limited the amount I was allowed to place on any wager as they had monitored my wagering activity and believed that the pattern of trading was suspicious. Now, I must state immediately that I was in no way placing large wagers. My bets would be in the region of $300 as a maximum which in betting terms is of little real consequence. Despite this two bookmakers imposed limits on how much I could place, in one instance I was limited to $20 per wager which clearly drastically limited any potential for a reasonable profit.

You might say of course that all I needed to do was to avoid trading with those bookmakers but this was difficult given the fact that the trades notified to me involved these bookmakers on a regular basis so I would have severely restricted my trading if I removed these two bookmakers.

Ironically of course I know of many arbitrage traders who wager much larger sums of money than I wanted to with these same bookmakers but who have had no problems whatsoever.

Odds change such that the arbitrage no longer exists

In the type of arbitrage trading that I was doing the opportunities to profit would only be available for a short time. The software I used had direct feeds from the bookmaker websites, it then did the relevant calculations to then present me with arbitrage opportunities.

If you were not quick enough you could find that having placed one side of the trade when you went to the other bookmaker site the quoted odds were no longer available and you were left with the potential of a loss on the trade.

In these circumstances the advice is to ‘hedge’ your trade. In simple terms this means finding a bookmaker where the odds on offer would result in you breaking even or at least minimising the potential loss. The problem of course is that to take advantage of the odds on offer you would need to have sufficient funds with the particular bookmaker and that can sometimes be a problem (see Money Management below).

To help you find odds that could be used you should refer to a site such as Odds Checker where they compare odds from a range of bookmakers.

Bookmakers have different cut-off times for trades to be placed

Ordinarily many of the trades that you are presented with give you sufficient time before the event starts to place the trade and profit. Sometimes however if you are not careful you will place one side of a trade only to find that the other bookmaker has closed the book because their rules have determined that the time left before the event starts is not enough for you to place a wager.

If this happens you are again at risk as you only have one side of the trade placed and the risk may be increased as you may find it very difficult to find a bookmaker to place with as clearly the event is very close to starting.

Admittedly, if you are diligent in how you trade you should not fall into this particular trap that often, if at all, but it is at least bearing in mind especially when you remember that often you will be in a different time zone to where the event is being held.

There are websites such as Yahoo Sports that will prove invaluable in helping you getter a much clearer picture on when a particular event is about to start.

Bookmakers have different rules for certain sports

This issue is primarily related to Tennis although to a lesser extent rules for Baseball can also impact your ability to trade profitably. For the purposes of this article I will focus on Tennis.

Tennis is generally either one or two people matched against a similar number of opponents. This brings with it the risk that one player may not be able to finish a match, often because of injury. If this happens the player(s) who are able to continue would therefore be declared the victors.

The problem of course is predicting when any match might be terminated early. Bookmakers have addressed this by laying down rules as to when they consider that a match is valid i.e. it has progressed enough for the result to stand.

Unfortunately for us as clients the bookmakers do not all apply the same rules and if you place wagers with wildly differing rules you could end up with a losing trade which could prove costly.

As tennis is a particularly good sport for arbitrage opportunities it is very important to ensure that you only place trades with bookmakers who have similar rules.

Clearly no tennis player wants to forfeit a match so matches stopped part way through are not that common, hence as a trader you may decide to ignore the difference in rules and trade anyway. The decision would be yours, the risk may be slight but it does exist and if you have a limited bank then perhaps being conservative in your trading strategy might be the wise course of action.

Money Management

Unless you have a sizable disposable income available to you the chances are that you will have to start arbitrage trading with a limited bank. If this is the case then it is important that you study carefully which bookmakers are providing the most arbitrage opportunities so that you place your funds wisely.

As you start to trade you will soon notice that management of your money can be a key issue. By it’s very nature an arbitrage trade will end up where one of your wagers has lost and one has won. So, for the winning side of the trade the amount of funds with that bookmaker will increase and conversely your funds with the losing bookmaker will decrease.

It doesn’t take much to appreciate that if you have a streak of winners with one or two bookmakers then your funds may now be unevenly distributed and will therefore restrict you from perhaps trading all the opportunities that you would like to.

One recommendation is to keep part of your overall bank back so that if this situation arises you will have some funds still available to top up the bank in the losing bookmakers. This works to a certain extent but again with a limited bank overall it may not always be possible.

The problem is compounded by bookmaker rules that can place restrictions on how may withdrawals you can make from your account in any given time period. Whilst additional withdrawals may be possible they will often come with a hefty fee attached and any profits that you have made could be reduced significantly.

In conclusion I still believe that Sports Arbitrage Trading has a lot to offer but for an individual it is difficult. I’d recommend that you research online investment companies where you can invest but they do the work for you. This is a much safer option and can still provide very healthy returns.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com
From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

In other articles in this series I’ve made the point that you need to be disciplined and keep good records of all your online investments as this will ensure things are set up correctly from the start. One of the other things you need to do especially when starting out is to recoup your initial investment as quickly as possible.

The Greed Monster

When people discover the higher returns that are possible with many online investing programmes they often throw caution to the wind and get carried away by the riches they envisage if they invest a relatively small sum, compound all the returns and wait until it becomes a sizable sum.

A great idea in theory but not so good in practice. However attractive online investing programmes appear you need to bear in mind that some fail and you could lose your money. This creates anger and resentment and can deter you from further investing.

Plan to succeed

One way to mitigate the risk of loss is to plan to retrieve your initial investment as soon as possible. Let’s take a simple example. Assume that you invest in a programme that pays 2% a day and that you invest $100. So simple maths tells us that we would receive a return of $2 per day and that it would take 50 days to recoup our original $100 investment.

After the initial investment is recouped you are then gaining on what has come to be known as OPM or Other People’s Money. At this stage you could make the decision to compound earnings if that is an option and your funds would then grow more quickly.

Taking the above example again and assuming we are able to compound the first day our account would grow by $2 to $102, next day it would grow by $2.04 to $104.04. Whilst this doesn’t seem a lot you can soon work out that daily increases become significant as the account increases.

Don’t get carried away

Assuming you get to the stage where you can compound then it is a good idea to pay yourself out of your earnings on a regular basis. This ensures you are profiting from your investment and can still continue to grow your fund. Many people withdraw 50% of their earnings on a regular basis which means that the remaining 50% remains to aid compounding.

The fact that you withdraw some of your earnings shows that you have control of your account and the money can then be used for personal treats or perhaps re-invested in a new programme that will assist in your aim to diversify.

Personal Risk Tolerance

Personally I support the general idea of recouping your initial investment as quickly as you can and if you are just starting out I think it is imperative. However, there may be an argument that says once you have some experience and have a reasonably diverse portfolio that recouping your first deposit is not always that critical.

It might be that you invest say $100 into a new opportunity on the basis that you have made the decision to leave the money there and compound immediately. You take this view on the basis that this money is a wholly discretionary investment and that if the programme fails you will not beat yourself up about it but move on to the next.

This is another very personal decision and I’m sure people have widely differing views as to how much they would want to risk in this way. As you start out you should always look to recoup the initial amount but your views may change as time goes by.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com
From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru

When you start to invest online don’t treat it lightly. One of the first things you should do is set up a separate account that will hold the funds you have allocated for the purpose. As always do not invest any more than you are happy to lose. I know that this mantra is continually repeated but it is really important that right from the start you follow this rule.

Setting off in the right direction

One decision you will probably have to make is to whether you share your plans with your partner. There are examples of both extremes where couples are happy to be involved together and where one partner is resolutely against any such involvement. If you find yourself in the latter group try to come to an agreement such that both parties can work out an amicable solution. If you hide your activities it is more than likely you will be found out and it is much more difficult to assuage concerns if you are thought to be underhand.

Assuming that you decide to go ahead you should define what your goals and objectives are and break them down into short, medium and long time horizons. This should help you to establish how much funding you will need to start with. Bear in mind that time is on your side and don’t commit any more than is sensible. Once you’ve decided the amount transfer that sum into your dedicated account.

Find likely opportunities

Next, take time to research potential online investments that will help you achieve your goals. Bear in mind that not all of your investments will succeed, ensure you spread your risk across a number of investments. At first this may mean investing in only 2 or 3 to start with. Don’t let this worry you as once your profits start you can withdraw funds to invest in new ones.

Keep things under control

Keep records of your accounts as this will allow you to monitor their performance and determine whether they are meeting your objectives. Be prepared to act quickly if things are not going as planned as this shows you are in control and able to make rational decisions given the information to hand.

Treat your online investing as a real business as this will help to remove some of the emotional attachment that inevitably occurs when investing your hard earned money.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru.

If you were suffering from an illness and you didn’t know what it was who would you look to for answers? Would you listen to your next door neighbor who is something of a hypochondriac, your brother who works as a porter at the hospital or a website that you find using Google?

Hopefully you would have rejected all those options as whilst they may have an interest in helping you their level of expertise may be less than is really needed. Personally I’d seek out someone who has the knowledge and experience to help me in the first instance.

Do your research

The same should hold true when you want to invest online. You should not rely on hearsay, rumor or speculation as these can result in you losing funds rather than increasing them. At the end of the day any decision you make will be a personal one and you should accept that this is the case.

But before you make a decision you should do all you can to investigate the opportunity so that you feel confident in making that decision. In the vast majority of cases this level of confidence will not be (and shouldn’t be) 100%. There are just too many variables to consider when making any decision such as this. Just eighteen months ago you could have been highly confident making a decision to invest at your local bank, the economic crisis has destroyed even that level of confidence so investing online should raise your curiosity even more.

Clearly there are no formal bodies that you can turn to for reassurance as it is very difficult to police the world of online investments. Companies are based in jurisdictions that provide the most favorable conditions for their operations and they often keep an arms length stance when providing information. To some extent this is justified as they could be exposed to exploitation if details are made available.

This doesn’t mean to say that you should discount all such opportunities, just ensure you do your homework beforehand. One of the ways to do this is to find others who have the experience to help. As the online investing matures more and more people will have a track record of experiences that you can call on.

Spread your net wide

If you don’t have anybody in your immediate social circle who can help then spend time on the internet to search out knowledgeable people. Join forums and discussion groups that offer advice and help. Ask questions and monitor the quality of the answers given. Resist those who clearly aim to sell to you without any regard to your own situation. Make sure you are given the full story about an opportunity, both the good and the bad.

Start small

If you find an investment that you feel confident with begin with a small investment and monitor its performance closely. Keep up to date with news by monitoring forums, blogs and discussions so that if any problems are identified you will find out quickly. Don’t rush into a decision as some problems are exaggerated and given time can be overcome. Use common sense to guide your decision making and create a balanced portfolio to spread the risk.

For more great tips on online investing you can visit my blog at http://www.onlineinvestingguru.com From John Murphy and Online Investing Guru