what exactly is 'investing'?

Ardath Templer: investing is simply putting some thing away in hopes it Will grow(.re:money) stock market is pretty shaky right now .and the best advice is if you cant afford to lose it stay out of it. 10k would do pretty good in CD,s(certificates of deposit) you can buy them at your bank,or shop the Internet for best yields. i like ING BANK. their on the inter net www.Ing bank.com.last time i checked their paying out high 4% to low5% rates money is pretty safe.and if you can try laddering the cd,s that is purchesd 6 month 12month 18 monthand 24month this way your money rolls over all the time .check with your bank first,see who,s giving best rates,avoid a broker they will charge a fee for service, why pay for what you can do your self .good luck.and don,t forget the golden rule.IF IT SOUNDS TO GOOD TO BE TRUE IT USALLY IS!...Show more

Carlton Lastrapes: StocksMutual FundsBondsOptionsCommodities ((Oil, Gold, Silver, Coffee, sugar...etc))Currenciesyou name it, but th! e question is what to invest in, and when,that this question which made some people go crazy over the years,..;) Good Luck...Show more

Tereasa Sorensen: I recently invested in a networking business for $500. It seems to be working pretty well for me, and am able to work with one of the top leaders (he retired at age 29). He's helping me run the business successfully, and I'm hoping to do the same for others as well! Feel free to message me if you're interested and I definitely wouldn't mind helping you. :)

Rayford Latz: You can start by doing something worthwhile, putting it in the bank. The interest will be useful in long run trust me.

Cletus Makler: Investing is simply taking a reasonable amount of risk in the hopes for a reasonable return for that risk. Saving and investing are two different things. You invest money in real estate and stocks. You save money in a bank. With 10 grand, you could max out a Roth IRA, buy a diverse amount of mutual funds, or ! a Real Estate Investment Trust.

Florencia Manolakis: Sta! ndard investment advice is that you should invest in a diversified mix of stocks, bonds, and money market funds. You want to buy a diversified portfolio of stocks as individual stocks are too risky. Most folks have a dificult time buying a properly balanced portfolio of stocks on their own. They will misbalance their portfolio by buying all small stocks or all growth stocks, or some other misbalanced assortment of stocks. Unless you know what you are doing, it is best to buy mutual funds. I like Vanguard.com, other people like Fidelity, TIAA-CREF, and DFA. Buy no-load, low -expense funds. If you are like most people you will invest part of your money aggressively in stock funds, and part conservatively in money market funds and bond funds. Vanguard has an on-line questionnaire which will give you an idea of how to do "Asset Allocation," determining how much to put in each type of fund.If your company offers a 401K plan at work, try to invest the most you can. The money grow! s tax free, and some companies will match your contribution. Investing in a mutual fund IRA is also a good idea. If you have children, you may want to consider a 529 plan or other college savings plan that grows tax free.I like index funds. Because of their broad diversification, you are less likely to have a dramatic drop in value. They also have the lowest expenses. For stock funds, I would suggest putting ~70-80% of your money in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund. and ~20-30% in a foreign stock index fund. However, there are many different opinions out there on what the best mutual funds are. Read the links below and form your own opinion.If you have high-interest debt, like credit cards, it is best to pay this off first before trying most of the investment ideas above. You should also have 3-6 months of salary saved up as an emergency fund in a bank or money market fund before trying more risky investments. Believing advice you get on Yahoo answers can be risky! , so read these websites for further information. If you find it too co! nfusing, contact a professional financial advisor. They will charge you significant commissions, however. Sources: http://www.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/planningeducatio...http://www.fool.com/school.htm http://sec.gov/investor/pubs/assetallocation.htmhttp://www.diehards.org/readsites.htmhttp://finance.yahoo.com/education/begin_investinghttp://finance.yahoo.com/funds/basicsAsset Allocation Calculators(Determining how much to put in stocks and how much into bonds and money markets is a personal decision depending on your financial status. These Asset Allocation questionaires give you a rough idea how to do this. I like Vanguard best, but try some of the other sites as well.)https://personal.vanguard.com/VGApp/hnw/FundsInvQu...https://ais2.tiaa-cref.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects.exe/...http://www.ifa.com/SurveyNET/index.aspxWeb forum: http://www.diehards.org/(Many investment web forums are overrun by scam artists. This one seems the most legitimate site.)529 plans: http://www.savingfor! college.com...Show more

Elvie Drumgoole: It all the depends on your personality. Some are more willing to take higher risks than others. If you are the type who can't stand dealing with lost it will be best for you to invest your $$$ in a high yield account such as a CD or Money market. If don't mind losing a couple of $$$ put it a mutual funds you will get a greater return assuming the market is performing.

Ronnie Panas: Investing is, basically, receiving a satisfactory return on one's money - in your case, 10k. (USD $10,000, I'm assuming).I'd recommend an index fund - that's probably your best bet w/ $10g. I wouldn't recommend buying stocks individually - if you do that, you need considerably more $$ to construct a diversified portfolio. You do want equity (stock) exposure in your savings and investments, or you'll lose out to inflation. Bonds typically do not provide superior inflation adjusted returns (although they are generally safer & have more guarante! es).Most individual investors should avoid commodities, currencies, pre! cious metals, collectibles, fine art, etc, as investment media. They're too volatile & difficult to measure; as is real estate. Gold, in particular, provides very poor returns over a 20-30 year investing horizon, barely keeping pace with core inflation.Equities are far easier to value and are much more liquid (ie, easier to sell).Investing is a business operation. Considerable amounts of time should be spent on it - view it as purchasing parts of businesses. It's different than trading - trading is much more short term, and more closely resembles speculation, ie, gambling. Some traders make money - most break even or go broke, eventually. Long term investors tend to do much better in the long term. Gamblers, speculators, and traders usually fail to beat the market (or even to make money)....Show more

Antonia Boomershine: Check out www.investlikeme.blogspot.com. It is a blog for beginner investors. The author shares his current portfolio and you can invest with him usi! ng twitter.