Go from Investing Basics to Beyond with this presentation from PeerFinance101. You'll get great tips on how assess your own needs for return and your investment risk tolerance. You'll also find how to make a simple investing strategy that will beat the markets and help you meet your financial goals. Check out PeerFinance101 for more tips on investing, saving money and making extra money. You can read personal finance examples from others or share your own so we all learn together. http://peerfinance101.com/good-debt-bad-debt/

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Investing Basics and Beyond
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Despite what the television and web may want you
to believe, picking great investments is not as
important as how or when you invest.
Investing can be really easy or it can be really
difficult.

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Some of the best investing strategies I’ve seen have
been extremely simple. You put a set amount of
money aside every month across a few different
types of investments and never even have to look at
them until retirement. I’ve also seen really complex
strategies involving data-driven analysis and
constant management.

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5-Week Personal Finance Fix, Week
2 – Investing Basics
A lot of people avoid investing altogether but the truth is, everyone invests. They
just may not know it.
 Every time you sacrifice your time or money now for the potential to get
something in the future.
 Going to college, giving up those years you could be working and paying
tuition to get a better job.
 Paying a little more for a quality electronic device.
Investing is nothing more than taking a little risk for a return down the road. The
trick is to figure out how much return you need and how much risk you are willing
to take.
How Keep it Simple Made Me $22,000 in a Year: http://peerfinance101.com/2015/02/keep-simple-made-22000-
year/

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Investing Basics: Risk and Return
Investing is about getting to your financial destination
 Whether it’s retirement
 Paying college tuition
 Going on that dream vacation
The problem most investors run into is they set out on their financial journey
without knowing where they are going! They have no idea how much they need to
reach their goals or the best way to get there.
People understand that they need to invest for retirement but give no thought to
how much they actually need or a plan to get there.
The first thing you need to do is figure out where you want to go.
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Investment Risk: How Much Do You
Need?
One of the most important concepts in basic investing, and the most often
overlooked, is risk. There are different investments that will get you to your
financial goal.
The $64,000 question is,
“which investments do you need
for your goal?”
Given the annual rate of return
you need to reach your financial
goal, you can decide which
asset classes to use in your
investment portfolio.
Ways to Make Extra Cash: All the Rest: http://peerfinance101.com/2015/04/ways-to-make-extra-cash/

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Bonds – Loans to Companies and Countries
When a company or country needs money, investors lend it money in the form of
a loan called a bond. The company then pays a set percent, on the loan every six
months until the end of the loan’s life. When the loan comes due, the company
returns the amount it borrowed.
These loans are rated on a scale, from safest to most risky, according to the
financial health of the company or country.
Returns for the safest bonds are generally under 3% or 4% while other bonds may
pay up into double-digit returns.
Be wary of bonds offering more than a 7% return as this means there is a high
level of risk.
My first money blunder: http://peerfinance101.com/2015/04/my-first-money-blunder/

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Peer Loans – The New Fixed Income
Peer loans have only started to gain popularity as an investment and many people
are still weary of the risk.
There is some additional risk but you are also offered an additional return for that
risk.
The safest loans, those to people with extremely high credit scores, generally pay
around a 5% return while a portfolio of riskier loans may offer a 12% return or
higher.
Stocks
Share ownership in companies has paid an average annual return around 7% over
the last several decades but also entails a lot of risk, both emotionally and
financially.
Are peer lending risks the old west of online loans?: http://peerfinance101.com/2014/11/peer-lending-risks-
old-west-online-loans-yes/

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Real Estate
While the jury is still out for most whether your primary residence is a good
investment, owning commercial or residential-rental real estate can definitely help
you get to your financial destination.
The NAREIT Equity Real Estate, an index that tracks indirect real estate
investment, has returned an annual 9% over the last 30 years.
Crowdfunding – The New Venture Capital
Equity crowdfunding, where a company sells an ownership percentage for
investment, is still relatively new. The risk of total loss is very high but the returns
can also be very high. Average annual returns can range from 11% to well into the
double-digits.
Crowd101: http://www.crowd101.com/crowd-101-blog/

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The Easiest Investment Strategy You’ll Ever
Find
Before stocks took a nosedive at the beginning of 2013, I told investors that the
only way to beat the market would be to own the CME Group because it would
profit from higher stock trading. Shares jumped 66% over the subsequent six
months on high commodities trading revenue.
If you only need an average 4% return
to achieve your financial goals then
there is really little need to take the risk
of investing in start-up companies or
putting a lot of your money in stocks.
Who's the richest person in your state: http://peerfinance101.com/2015/05/the-richest-person-in-your-state/

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Instead of having to decide which company makes
for the best investment, you can spread your
money out over all the companies in the group
and lower your risk substantially.
Some of the most popular and cost-effective ETFs
Bonds
iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond ETF (AGG)
iShares iBoxx Investment Grade Corporate Bond (LQD)
Stocks
Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF (VTI)
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Real Estate
Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ)
SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate (RWX)
Investing is a decades-long process and the simplest form of investing is the buy-
and-hold approach.
What is my investment risk tolerance: http://peerfinance101.com/2015/05/what-is-my-investment-risk-tolerance/