Investing 101: Do Your Homework
February 9th, 2011 by Leah Szarek, North American Securities Administrators Association
If you’re like most Americans, your investment portfolio has taken a hit in recent years. You may be considering alternative ways to put your savings to work. But before you hop on the latest investment bandwagon, make sure you do your homework.
The first step toward becoming an informed investor is to contact your state securities regulator. State securities regulators can help you check out the licensing and background of anyone offering investment advice or selling investments, and help you verify that the investment is properly registered in your state. Find contact information for your local securities regulator here.
State securities regulators also provide free online investor education resources to help you evaluate the risks of various investment opportunities and spot the red flags of fraud. NASAA’s Informed Investor Alerts can help investors assess popular investment opportunities, such as:
- Franchises. High unemployment rates may spur would-be entrepreneurs to start a business. Investing in an established franchise can be an attractive path to becoming your own boss. But be aware of potential pitfalls, and learn how to protect yourself should your venture not succeed as planned.
- Gold-related Investments. It is a myth to say that gold is a safe investment. Gold is a commodity, and, like other commodities, its price can fluctuate. Read up on the many ways to invest in gold before deciding to invest.
- Peer-to-Peer Lending. Peer-to-peer lending services allow individuals and small businesses to receive loans that would otherwise be difficult or costly to obtain from traditional banks. Investors fund these loans based on the promise of a capital return. There are several risks to take into account before getting involved.
Visit www.nasaa.org, the website of the association of state securities regulators, to get started on your way to savvy and safe investing.
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Thank you for this information. As a consultant to many small business I have seem far to many wonder into Franchise purchases with out doing the research to determine if it is in a fact a good financial move.
I wish more Individuals would use the resources you are promoting. Thanks!
As an accountant and consultant I agree that it is always best to do your homework when it comes to investing. Especially with something like a Franchise, so many factors come into play that being prepared with adequate research puts you ahead of the game and make you more savvy investor.
Oftentimes being an Entrepreneur can seem like a viable option, with the state of the economy and the like. It may take a great deal of capital to get off the ground and the first few years may also be rough ones. Finding investors and having a solid business plan can make your vision more successful.
Raquel
It would also be a help to would-be investors entering the market for the first time if seminars were better regulated. So many of them are simply run by the owners of financial ‘products’ that either don’t exist or have never been approved by the regulators.
All these people want are the unwary investors so as to grab their money, feed them a bunch of hype and eventually disappear off into the sunset.
Venture capitalists are usually very selective in determining what to invest in; as a rule of thumb, finance may spend many chances presented to it. Running a work and one of the aspects that business creation gets most daunting is mobilizing start-up capital.