"The truth is always the strongest argument!"
Sophocles (495 - 406 BC)

Take a look in the mirror and remember that any action you take with your finances is for the face right there in front of you. And for a variety of financial and emotional reasons you can not usually act logically and rationally!

This person is YOU!

And you must take your acknowledged failings into account as well as your strengths.

We all have different attitudes to money, just as we have to food, clothes, sport, sex, religion or whatever. You may be a Prudent Prudence or Happy-go-lucky Harry.

Most likely you are neither of these extremes, although you may well possess a measure of each of them. For example, you may penny pinch on food but spend a lot on clothes!

Accept it!

Similarly, you may be a reader of the financial papers or regard the subject as a complete bore. In the latter case you would be foolish to take on a strategy which involves keeping a regular watch on the stockmarket.

Try to curb your excesses but at the same time adopt Shakespeare's (1564 - 1616) maxim:

"To thine own self be true" (Polonius/Hamlet) and never take any action that goes against your basic temperament.

The rock bottom solid safe investment does not exist!

You cannot avoid some risk and it is important to always keep this on your mind from the very start. Hopefully the following pages will help you to minimize the risks and develop ways to make your money work for you.

You can be sure that if you don't put your money to work someone else will and take the profit for himself.

But never think that you can put your money into a so-called risk free investment and forget about it.

Some people use high-risk investment options to speculate, or bet, on the success of an unproven business. But unless you already have investing knowledge, this isn't a game you should ever try to play!

If You Want to Play ...

Buy Some Toys Instead!

On the other hand if you're tempted to speculate, don't try it without either some years of investing experience or having successfully weathered a few ups and downs in the market.

Also, be sure you can afford to lose part of your investment if things don't turn out well. Your comfort level with risk will be an important consideration when selecting investments.

One concept that can help minimize your risk is diversifying your investment choices. You should not "put all your eggs in one basket."

It is a poor idea to put all your money into one type of investment or to invest only in the stock of one company.

You should also avoid investing only in stocks within a single sector of industry.

Furthermore, use various investing systems and methods and do not concentrate only in one technique.