Reddit reviews Stock Investing For Dummies (For Dummies (Business & Personal Finance))

I do not deal locally, so, unfortunately, I cannot recommend any institutions, however, it would be a good idea to understand the market and your options beforehand. Reading Investing for Dummies , Investopedia and subscribing to r/stocks & r/investing will be a good start. You do not need to be an expert, but having a solid base of understanding to get started will allow you to have a better idea of where you want to put your money.

The suggestions here aren’t very specific or helpful are they?

Start with the “for Dummies” series of books. Specifically stock investing:

https://www.amazon.com/Stock-Investing-Dummies-Paul-Mladjenovic/dp/1119239281/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1510966630&sr=8-3&keywords=investing+for+dummies+2017

I have no idea why that link is so long.

There are a multitude of books that have been written and if you ask 100 people, you will get a 100 different answers on the best books to read. My recommendation is ignore all the flashy titles and strategy specific books that promise how to be a billionaire in 5 years or how to retire at age 25. Instead, for anyone just starting out, i recommend going with a solid foundation and once that is achieved, then find your individual specific plan. My three (actually four) books to get started in a serious entry into the investment markets are as follows (in order and assuming a starting point of Extreme Beginner)

1. Get a "For Dummies Book" on Personal investment and on introduction to Stocks. Many people will drop a big steaming turd on the "For Dummies Book" series for being too basic or simplistic but i have found they are very helpful in introducing the the basic vocabulary and concepts behind many investing activities. Don't try to build a lifelong plan from these books but use them as a primer on terms and ideas.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Finance-Dummies-Eric-Tyson/dp/1119114292/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1518157495&sr=8-2&keywords=personal+investing+for+dummies
   
   And
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Investing-Dummies-Business-Personal-Finance/dp/1119239281/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1518157731&sr=8-4&keywords=personal+investing+for+dummies
   
   2)The Intelligent Investor: The Definitive Book on Value Investing by Benjamin Graham.
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Investor-Definitive-Investing-Essentials/dp/0060555661/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1518157481&sr=8-3&keywords=personal+investing
   
   This one is much more technical than the first read but I consider it "The Bible" for forming a solid education in value stock investing. Written just after World War 2, this book has been invaluable in understanding how to evaluate good investments in the stock market. I still don't know how investors did it before the internet, but using the principles presented in this book and the resources available online, your stock performance should be far in excess of anything you might do having not read it. Interesting side story: When i was in business school circa 1998-2001, I had a professor of Financial Analysis who introduced me to this book and also called it the Bible. In his lectures he and the students had many heated debates regarding the validity of Grahams teachings and how the investing world had outgrown Grahams views due to the rapidly growing diversity of investments today and the impact technology had on investing strategy. We, the students, were all blinded by the internet boom and all the stories of people who had an IPO for their company and became overnight billionaires, provided the company ended in dot-com. The professor was adamant that every generation was doomed to learn some hard and expensive lessons by thinking the Old masters no longer applied to the "New Reality". As an exercise we spent the following months reviewing many of the skyrocketing stocks that were part of the Dot Com bubble. The professor claimed that, based on his application of Graham's principles the only Dot com stocks he would consider holding for a minimum of 10 years from 1997 were Amazon, Intel, Sony, SAP and Microsoft. By 2000 he had fared much better than many of the students who thought the were going to be Pets.com billionaires.
   Which brings us to the third book:
   
   
2. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Popular-Delusions-Madness-Crowds/dp/1463740514/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518158993&sr=1-1&keywords=Extraordinary+Popular+Delusions+and+The+Madness+of+Crowds+by+Charles+MacKay
   
   If you though Grahams book was old this one is coming up on its 200th anniversary.
   This one is really not about investing as much as it is about the understanding how social psychology leads to things like, bubbles, panic crashes and fads that leave ruined investors in their wake. Every time I hear the word Bitcoin, I think of this book, just as I did back when everyone of my friends was going to be the next multimillionaire house flipper or day trader ten years ago. I am not saying that these strategies are inherently bad, just that it is important to be able to distinguish the facts from the hype, even when the person hyping it is yourself because you got swept up in the public craze. Read about the Dutch tulip craze and realize that the same forces are in play every day.
   
   Once you grind through these three, you will be more than ready to start on your individual path and well armed to make reasonable decisions. Good Luck!

Stock Investing for Dummies.

https://www.amazon.com/Stock-Investing-Dummies-Paul-Mladjenovic/dp/1119239281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497379384&sr=8-1&keywords=stock+investing+for+dummies