Exchange Traded Funds

The book I read to research this post was Exchange Traded Funds for Dummies by Russell Wild which is a very good book which I bought from Kindle. Exchange Traded Funds are also called ETF's. The golden rule in investing is diversify so for example you wouldn't just invest in technology companies. ETF's are a good way to diversify as they are normally in a variety of companies. You shouldn't invest in ETF's in one company as a rule. You need a brockerage company, some of the more established ones are TD Ameritrade & Fidelity. Some of the better brokers will advise you of what to invest in also ask if there are any freebies, for people investing a large amount it isn't unheard of for them to give away a free laptop so it pays to ask. It's best to invest in funds in developed countries like the UK, USA, Japan & France. Stocks are more volatile in developing countries. It's worth mentioning sometimes you will come across newsletters that claim a certain company is advising about ETF's and is always successful. Every adviser has downturns in there investments. The law on financial newsletters is the same as with the tabloid ie that it's a form of free speech, basically that they can say anything. There's normally a service charge to an ETF that has to be paid annually which is normally a fraction of one percent of the stock. If you are doing more than a few trades a month that is too many, a good ETF is generally a long term investment certainly longer than 12 months. Finally as I was saying at the beginning you should diversify your investments you should invest in a variety of things and certainly not just ETF's.