Any good online investment simulation that I can help me learn how to invest?

[yeeooow]

My standard advice for anyone starting out:
(Step 5 isn't a simulation per se, but you don't really need one, and this way I think you will learn better.)

More and more, we are taking on the bulk of the costs of life. Corporations are cashing out pensions and moving towards the 401k, putting more of the cost of medical insurance on us by way of higher premiums, copays and deductibles. We are funding more for disability, and long term care. Social security may be privatized in which case some very simple math will show most of us will do worse.

If you are 25 today and you retire at 67 with a million dollar investment portfolio, that will safely generate $60K/year. But when you are 67, that 60K will only have the buying power of a little over $16K/year. It gets worse though, because at 67, you will still probably have 30 more years to live and that 16K will shrink each year until it’s only worth $8K/year at age 90.

A million dollars isn’t what it used to be… and it will be even less in the future.

So…. We must all become educated investors much more so then our parents were. These are some basic steps to get you started.


Step 1.
First decide what kind of brokerage you want to work with. You can open a brokerage account in your bank, with a large full service brokerage or an internet brokerage. I find when I use banks and big brokerages, they tend to want to sell me things that are better for them…. So I use http://www.scottrade.com because it’s cheap and easy with low frills. I do my own research and make my own investments. But any low cost internet brokerage service is fine.

Step 2. get a subscription to Barrons or Investors Business Daily… Do this for 6 months or a year. At first, It seems a bit mysterious, but pretty soon you start to understand the terms and what investors are looking for and what they are afraid of

Step 3. If you have some money to invest, put it in 3 month CD’s right now. First the market is unstable and second you have some homework in Step 3 to do before you do any investing.

Step 4. Go out to the internet and search on the following subjects. Get familiar with the concepts.
Asset allocation
Long term investing
inflation
Roth ira vs ira
Large med small cap
Value vs growth
Indexed mutual funds
ETF
Sector funds
Bonds CD
International funds
Market cycles
volatility
Fundamental analysis
Technical analysis


Step 5 go to http://clearstation.etrade.com/ and sign up for a free account. Play around there by looking at graphs and fundamentals. If you click on the graph names, you will get clear information about what the graph is based on and how to interpret it. I think it’s also a good idea to pretend you have $10,000 and start buying and selling on paper. Keep track of where you are each day for a month… It’s a lot easier to lose play money then real money….
WARNING: don’t rely on technical analysis alone. These graphs a good at telling you WHEN to buy and sell, but now WHAT to buy.


Step 6. It’s always a good Idea to see a CFP (certified financial planner). Their job is to work for your benefit, not to sell you investments. They can cover subjects like employee benefits, insurance, budgeting, living trusts, 401k, taxes and real estate as well as investment types and investment types to keep away from.

Always strive to do your own research… you’ll find everyone sounds like an expert so take everything people tell you with a grain of salt. It’s not easy in the beginning but soon you will be the expert.

Don’t get involved with futures, currency, options (unless you get stock options at work), commodities, annuities and other derivative type investments at this time.

Good Luck