Do you want to be a master of investing? Start here by learning a proper definition of investing.

1. Investing
A D E F I N I T I O N
A B E G I N N E R ' S G U I D E T O

2. Investing is like
learning a language.
Anyone who has mastered a new
language knows what it’s like to
reassign thoughts and ideas to
match new words and sounds, to
bend your brain around brand new
meaning and reconfigure existing
knowledge to move in patterns
which may redefine or even defy
previous experience.

3. Learning About
Investing
Becoming a knowledgeable investor is a similar process, as it involves
mastering the dialect of finance. The input of financial knowledge causes
symbols which you thought you understood take on alternative context; to
incorporate this new investing information requires rewiring what you know
about monetary value (namely how it’s spent), how it’s produced, and how you
can increase yours.

4. Read up!
Investing may seem rather complex, but that complexity is largely an illusion.
Financial advisors earn a fabulous living by capitalizing on the average
individual’s economic ignorance. Adding a few basic and quickly mastered
investing concepts to your knowledge base can be endlessly beneficial for
anyone looking to boost their financial status. Information is strength, and
financial information is financial strength. I believe in being as empowered as
possible, so I’m building this beginner’s guide to investing for anyone craving
control of their own economic state. If you want to avoid getting fleeced by
financial advisors and improve your overall quality of life, this guide is for you.

5. So, what is
investing?
Some people equate investing with
high stakes gambling. To the cynical
and uniformed, investing money might
resemble finding which way the wind
blows by standing on a cliff during a
thunderstorm, and waving around
handfuls of cash. Both of these
viewpoints are a caricature of what
investing actually is.

6. Simply put, to invest means to make
money with money. Our world
operates on money, and any financial
endeavor requires funds to function. We
acquire these funds by presenting the
option to “invest,” or give money to their
venture in exchange for a type of
offering or mutual agreement. These
offerings include stock (bite-size
portions of company ownership), bonds
(a kind of interest-earning IOU), real
estate, or mutual funds, among other
things.
Simply put...

7. Is it
gambling?
The value of a stock, bond, or similar
offering is contingent upon the
economic strength of the venture
which issued it. Since the future of all
economic ventures are uncertain,
placing your financial faith in any of
them might seem like a shaky prospect,
hence the financial market’s stigmatic
reputation as no more than a glorified
roulette wheel.

8. Investing is
anything but
random.This might be true, were it not for the fact that
roulette is random, and a good investment is
anything but. Making a wise investment involves
analyzing market trends, determining how certain
financial interests are performing, predicting how
they will perform in the future, and investing in a
manner which accounts for the best and worst
possible performance scenarios.

9. Follow me!
Defining investing is only the beginning to a safe and profitable
financial future. Check back soon for “A Beginner’s Guide to
Investing: Compounding.” Do you want more financial tips,
tricks, and news in the meantime? Follow me on Twitter
@EricaHill_KW!

10. Thank You
F O R L I S T E N I N G
E R I C A H I L L . N E T