I read a lot of pf book which all seems to center on how to reduce expense, inspiration and very (very) general idea about investing max your 401K etc... Nobody ever goes in the specifics of investing. How do you actually invest? Where do you find mutual funds? Do you pruchase them at a bank? How do you analyse them? I am willing to learn but actually clueless about where to start and find good and reliable information. Any advice? Books, website?
how to invest?
"How do you analyse them?"
The first thing you need to know is that there is no "right" way to invest. There are all kinds of theories and ways to do it, and these different ways all work at some point in time.
"How do you actually invest? Where do you find mutual funds? Do you pruchase them at a bank?"
The cheapest way is to use an online broker (ETrade, TDameritrade, ScottTrade, etc.). You won't get a lot of help at these sites, but 99% of the "help" are just sales tactics anyway. There are some other threads on here discussing brokers.
"Any advice?"
Stock brockers are just salesmen. They don't know anymore than you do. Now, if you have a few million you might find a decent money manager.
"Books, website?"
Books
1) The Warren Buffett Way
2) The Intelligent Investor. Also, Security Analysis. Both by Benjamin Graham, who is basically the father of value investing. Very technical.
3) One Up on Wall Street and Beating the Street by Peter Lynch. Learn to Earn is another one he wrote that is more basic.
4) Real Money by Jim Cramer (Not advocating the style, but it gives good info)
5) Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - written about a 100 years ago, but still very good for a broad picture of Wall Street.
6) Chasing Goldman Sachs - A fantastic recent history (70's to present) of Wall Street investment banks. This is not direct investment advice, but I don't think you should invest with out understanding how/why it all works the way it does.
There are plenty of other books, but these will put you ahead of most people.
Websites:
The Big Picture (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/) - My favorite site for broad economic analysis.
The first thing you need to know is that there is no "right" way to invest. There are all kinds of theories and ways to do it, and these different ways all work at some point in time.
"How do you actually invest? Where do you find mutual funds? Do you pruchase them at a bank?"
The cheapest way is to use an online broker (ETrade, TDameritrade, ScottTrade, etc.). You won't get a lot of help at these sites, but 99% of the "help" are just sales tactics anyway. There are some other threads on here discussing brokers.
"Any advice?"
Stock brockers are just salesmen. They don't know anymore than you do. Now, if you have a few million you might find a decent money manager.
"Books, website?"
Books
1) The Warren Buffett Way
2) The Intelligent Investor. Also, Security Analysis. Both by Benjamin Graham, who is basically the father of value investing. Very technical.
3) One Up on Wall Street and Beating the Street by Peter Lynch. Learn to Earn is another one he wrote that is more basic.
4) Real Money by Jim Cramer (Not advocating the style, but it gives good info)
5) Reminiscences of a Stock Operator - written about a 100 years ago, but still very good for a broad picture of Wall Street.
6) Chasing Goldman Sachs - A fantastic recent history (70's to present) of Wall Street investment banks. This is not direct investment advice, but I don't think you should invest with out understanding how/why it all works the way it does.
There are plenty of other books, but these will put you ahead of most people.
Websites:
The Big Picture (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/) - My favorite site for broad economic analysis.
