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Introduction

Successful investing takes diligent work and knowledge, like any other meaningful pursuit. Investing All-in-One For Dummies presents basic investing topics — such as building an emergency fund, determining your financial goals, and choosing a broker (if you’re not a do-it-yourself investor) — but also introduces some slightly more advanced subjects, like fundamental analysis, that can enhance your investing strategies. In between, you find the basics of investing in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, real estate, and trends like cryptocurrencies.

This book can help you avoid the mistakes others have made and can point you in the right direction as you build your portfolio. Explore the pages of this book and find the topics that most interest you within the world of investing.

In all the years that we’ve counseled and educated investors, the single difference between success and failure, between gain and loss, has boiled down to two words: applied knowledge. Take this book as your first step in a lifelong learning adventure.

About This Book

To build wealth, you don’t need a fancy college or graduate-school degree, and you don’t need a rich parent, biological or adopted! What you do need is a desire to read and practice the many simple yet powerful lessons and strategies in this book.

This book is designed to give you a realistic approach to making money. It provides sound, practical investing strategies and insights that have been market-tested and proven from more than 100 years of stock market history. You’re not expected to read it from cover to cover. Instead, this book is designed as a reference tool. Feel free to read the chapters in whatever order you choose. You can flip to the sections and chapters that interest you or those that include topics that you need to know more about.

Investing intelligently isn’t rocket science. By all means, if you’re dealing with a complicated, atypical issue, get quality professional help. Hiring someone is dangerous if you’re financially challenged. If you do decide to hire someone, you’ll be much better prepared if you educate yourself. Doing so can also help you focus your questions and assess that person’s competence.

Foolish Assumptions

No matter your skill or experience level with investing, you can get something out of Investing All-in-One For Dummies. We assume that some readers haven’t invested in anything other than baseball cards or Pez dispensers and have no clue of where to even start. If that describes you, the first part of the book is custom-made for you and takes extra care to step through all the key points in as much plain English as possible. (When we have no choice but to use investing jargon, we tell you what it means.) But we also assume that more advanced investors may pick this book up, too, looking to discover a few things. The book takes on more advanced topics as you progress through it.

Here are some assumptions we made about you as we crafted this book:

 You have about seven cents in your checking account and you’re working to pay off credit card debt or student loans (or both), but you know you need to start saving for the future.

 You’re debt-free, and you’d like to start a portfolio.

 You may have some investments, but you’re looking to develop a full-scale investment plan.

 You’re tired of feeling overwhelmed by your investing choices and stressed out by the ever-changing economic and investing landscape, and you want to get more comfortable with your investment selections.

 You want to evaluate your investment advisor’s advice.

 You have a company-sponsored investment plan, like a 401(k), and you’re looking to make some decisions or roll it over into a new plan.

If one or more of these descriptions sound familiar, you’ve come to the right place.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book, icons help guide you through the maze of suggestions, solutions, and cautions. We hope the following images make your journey through investment strategies smoother.

We think the name says it all, but this icon indicates something really, really important — don’t you forget it!

Skip it or read it; the choice is yours. You’ll fill your head with more stuff that may prove valuable as you expand your investing know-how, but you risk overdosing on stuff that you may not need right away.

This icon denotes strategies that can enable you to build wealth faster and leap over tall obstacles in a single bound. (Okay, maybe just the first one.)

This icon indicates treacherous territory that has made mincemeat out of lesser mortals who have come before you. Skip this point at your own peril.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product comes with a free access-anywhere Cheat Sheet that can set you on the path to successful investing. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and enter “Investing All-in-One For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

If you’re a new investor, you may want to consider starting from the beginning. That way, you’ll be ready for some of the more advanced topics introduced later in the book. But you don’t have to read this book from cover to cover. If you have a specific question or two that you want to focus on today, or if you want to find some additional information tomorrow, that’s not a problem. Investing All-in-One For Dummies makes it easy to find answers to specific questions. Just turn to the table of contents or index to locate the information you need. You can get in and get out, just like that.