Lots of hours learning how to do it
Reading everything possible
ask alot of questions from the group on this board...like questions about how
they got started..
when this board first got started we shared our stories alot more...at the
beginning of each year we got alot of "newbies" and they would ask alot of
questions which would be helpful...
I have acouple accts..only take care of the trading one...investment one is long
term stocks..
Once you start it will take maybe two years before you feel very good all the
time....i did it gradually..
agreed with poster about brokers..useless
i think i already told you about ken heebner's fund..until you know what your
doing it's best to break up this money into
???funds...best of breed long term stocks..and your trading acct.
Your first step is to do alot of learning, reading and askin questions
Get Investor Business Daily..they have alot of learning tools...do not use their
stock picks unless you do your own homework
Good Luck
Marjorie

just learning as much as you can

I have exactly the same amount, but I have twenty years. Everything seems to
suggest that I could acheive between 2 - 3 million by 2035, but that's using
those sometimes lame retirement calculators. It seems to me that you would have
to be fairly aggressive and take on a lot of risk while maintaining a healthy
sum in safer/quality holdings because you don't want to risk losing too much
before you need it in ten years in order to gain a lot. I am keeping 20 percent
in aggregate bond fund, 40 percent in a solid vanguard passive fund, and using
the other 40 percent for more riskier but potentially profitable growth. I'm
sure, however, you felt like everything was going against you between novemeber
of last year, and the end of March this year. Also, I think there is still a lot
of big time growth in Latin America in the future, and other overseas and
emerging markets, but not many would advise you to have more then 10 percent of
your assets in emerging markets. BY the way, DO NOT GIVE YOUR MONEY TO A
FINANCIAL PLANNER / ADVISOR. From meeting with many of them last year, I decided
that they don't care at all about your portfolio if you have less than a
million, and, quite frankly, are only trying to get as much money from you as
for themselves. Also, I was skeptical at first, but I have found Jim Cramer's
books helpful. His last one has good bottom line talk about retirement, and how
to avoid getting ripped off.