Investing in stocks can be intimidating. The lack of resources for brand new stock investors is obvious. I started investing in stocks after reading Derek Foster books. However, it took me a while to get to him because I find his bestselling book titled "Stop Working" too much. I personally dislike everything that is too on the popular side and I felt that his book didn't worth the reading because it was too of a punch in the face feeling. I just dislike everything that is marketing actually. Derek Foster was very active in a forum back in the days and I eventually got interested in his story, no matter the book title, I bought the book and my life never been the same ever since. Not that I had "Stop Working", but I now have a net worth that I never taught I could have, even if my 200k net worth may sound like not being much.
Very sincerely, I barely ever read about the real stuff of investing in stock anywhere on the Web. Its a tactic coming from the big players in the financial industry to keep you ignorant and obviously, to make up some money on your back while you rely on their system, on their financial advisors who most of the time are incompetent. Don't ever believe that financial advisors are there to help you. They are complete strangers who only want to get their dirty hands on your money. They are sharks. Banks CEO's and other financial institutions are being paid millions and millions of dollars every year. Banks employees' get received generous bonus base on their sales. Because that's what they do, they are sellers before being anything else. Where comes all of that money? A big part comes from commissions you pay to invest in their mutual funds and other financial products, it came from banking fees, interest you pay on loans, credit cards, etc...
I had been investing for many years and when I started, I went through the regular panels, I went to the bank and deal with financial advisors, financial planners, so call "professional" who is there to help you. I went to Desjardins Mont-Royal branch when I arrived in Montreal a couple of years ago. I started my search for investments and I was denied a fund I really wanted to invest in, even when I was aware of the risks and everything. In my position, I didn't have any choices, I have to invest in my own if I wanted to have things done my way. The experience with those damn Quebeckers was insulting - and it wasn't my only bad experience with financial advisor in Quebec, but it gave me valuable lessons that I am willing to share with anyone reading:
-Never rely on anyone when it comes to your personal financial
-Don't let anyone have control over your money
-Have the last words on your finance and fuck - among others - Desjardins
When it comes to money, Quebeckers are especially fresh, arrogant and you should NEVER trust a Quebecker when it comes to money. They are really sick people. When it comes to money, people are selfish. You have to protect yourself. Jesus Christ died and left us in a world of abominations and you need to deal with the most important things in life, including your financial life, alone. To be able to take full control of your life, you also need to take control of your finances. And don't ever think that someone else can do the job on your behalf. There was one Jesus, he died, no one is good enough, no one is enough caring to help you in the most important aspects of your life. This is something really important you must understand quickly in your life.
When it comes to money, please, just don't put your trust in anyone.
Its just a matter of coming all beef up baby and I am asking you right now: are you willing to be a soldier of your financial life and beat up all expectations or are you going to sit there and wait to be hit by a bullet on your forehead? (And that being of course not being independent and relying on other people to take money decisions).
Now that you are aware of that, the only way to have the last words on everything in your financial life is to open a broker account. While opening a broker account, DON'T open a margin account. I have a margin account myself, but I don't recommend it. A margin is an amount of money that is being loaned base on the value of your portfolio. The amount of money available at your disposal will be different every day - because the value of your portfolio will very everyday. If the stock market loses a lot of points, or if something happens to the value of the stock, you couldn't face a margin call, and you'll have to quickly put money in your brokerage account or worst: sell off your stocks to pay your margin.
Only invest money you have at your disposal. Don't invest using credit. Also, don't invest all of your money - leave you a good amount in your banking account. Because if you need money quickly, if you won't going to like having to sell your previous stocks. A good amount for me would be $10 000. I am good at giving advice that I don't follow myself. I personally have less than $4 000 in my banking account. But that's because I am addicted to the market and I invest all of my money in stocks. It's also the reason why I have a margin account. However, you need to be better than I am, control yourself and make the right decisions: keep money in the bank, don't open a margin account.
Also, they'll ask you if you want to trade options, but you can say no for now. You might want to invest in stocks only to start with. I never understood how options work. If it happens that you are a genius, you'll be able to set up for trading options, later on, it's not because you say no now that you won't be able to get it later on.
For broker, I suggest to select one that is an affiliate of a Canadian bank, to avoid any kind of problem, that suddenly the broker Web page no longer exist.... I personally invest using TD Waterhouse, now name TD Direct. They won't charge you inactivity fees if you stop investing in new stocks. Their services are reliable. They have eServices where you can download online all the papers you need for your tax declarations. They also have monthly statement and a few cool features easy to use. It's easy to trade using TD Direct.
With TD, you can: have a non-registered portfolio - that being a portfolio that is not inside TFSA or RRSP - its the ordinary one. You can open a TFSA portfolio and an RRSP portfolio if you want. If you invest in a TFSA portfolio - be aware that the usual contribution limit applied. Specific contribution limits exist for TFSA and RRSP - be aware of them before investing. If not, you could pay big tax penalties. You can also set up a trading account in US dollars, but since you just have begun, you may want to concentrate on Canadian stocks.
Let say that you now at this point have a broker account with TD Direct and that you are ready to invest! The fun begins here. However, you must be aware of several things before starting for real:
-investing in stock is not a safe heaven. As soon as you invest in stocks, the money of your money can go up or down. A stock is not a safe guarantee investment. However, if you pick the right ones, rewards will be big. But there's no guaranteed return.
-once you invest in stock, your life will be linked to the stock market. At every moment of the day, you may check the value of the TSX.... Your stocks will always be in your mind. They'll become an extension of your soul and it will soon enough become a big part of your life. Investing in stocks, the stock market is not for everyone. I can be as stressing that it can be rewarding. Currently, we are at risk of a nuclear war. If something happens, the stock market will take a down hit and immediately, the value of your stocks will decrease. Seek inside what kind of individual you are. How do you react to stress? Are you willing to risk the value of your saving? If not a nuclear war, everything can happen, and what happens in the outside world is directly connected to the stock market and its out of your control.
If you feel ok dealing with the stock market addiction and that you truly understand all the risks involved, please fee to BUY your first new stocks. You should be excited! WELCOME IN MY WORLD.
While having a broker account, you can buy anything that is trading on the stock market. No one is there to tell you that you cannot buy this or this... No one is there to tell you in which stock to invest. A broker won't ever give you investment advice, their only duty is to cash in your commissions fees, answer questions if you have any, but they are not there to give advice and they truly don't care if you make money or not. You are the master, and you have now to make the right decisions. With a broker account, you have the full responsibility for your financial life. We are at the center of everything: the stock you decided to invest in will make you richer, or poorer. Making a decision to invest in a stock is a big decision.
On the stock market, the temptations are BIG. It's the house of the devil himself. You might be tempted to invest in penny stocks like
Timothy Sykes. You might be tempted to invest in gold mines like Eric Sprott. And even worst, give away thousands and thousands of dollars in tutorial fees to the
Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management of Anton Kreil. No need to spend your valuable money on Anton Kreil. You can, like me, watch the videos of the
Institute of Trading and Portfolio Management on YouTube, they are fun to watch and interesting but don't ever spend a dime on their program. It quite amusing on how much Anton Kreil so calls "Institute" is pushing for the so complex world of stock market, with a bunch of complicated scheme and distractions to the real deal. Fact is, investing in stock is the easiest thing in the world. What is not easy however is to stay away from those temptations, not to over-trade and not to borrow money to invest.
Here we are dear friends the most exciting part: what to invest in! Of course, you understand that I am not a professional, and if you chose to invest in the stocks below, it's at your own risk.
I came with a few stocks idea of my portfolio that are strong and reliable:
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS)
BCE Inc. (BCE)
Saputo Inc. (SAP)
Fortis Inc. (FTS)
Canadian National Railway Co (CNR)
Boyd Group Income Fund (BYD.UN)
Park Lawn Corporation (PLC)
Toromont Industries Ltd (TIH)
CT Real Estate Investment Trust (CRT.UN)
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (BIP.UN)
Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD)
With those stocks, I wouldn't mind telling you to invest 5k in each. They are my very best picks.
And now, how does it feel to get the very best of me for absolutely NOTHING at all? All this for free, I CANNOT BELIEVE. LUCKY bastards. lol
Hope it was helpful, best of luck (you'll need some) ;-)