September 14, 2006
So Many Companies. So Little Information.
Shopping for a retirement account can be very time consuming and sometimes even confusing. Personally, it took me over a month to find the right place to open my retirement account. Because I am so nice to the devoted eFIPO.com readers I will breakdown the best places for you to start your retirement account.
Before you start shopping, you need to ask yourself some basic investing questions. Here is a short quiz, designed by yours truly, to give you pointers for your investing future. It’s like a Cosmo quiz (for the ladies) or a FHM quiz (for the men). If you answer them based on your independent lifestyle it should give you some good information. So answer them truthfully.
Where should I invest?
What you should do based on your score.
40+ — With 10k to invest or more- Consider getting individual stocks if you are experienced enough to diversify your portfolio. I recommend using Sharebuilder because they have some great investing programs for first time investors.
—-With less than 10k to invest- Stick with mutual funds. You probably don’t have enough money to properly diversify your portfolio. INGDirect, Fidelity, and Vanguard have some great mutual funds to get started. I recommend getting in long-term growth investments such as: small-value cap funds, international funds, large cap growth funds.
30+, but less than 40 — Mutual funds, and ETF’s are the way to go. INGDirect, Fidelity, and Vanguard have some great mutual funds to get started. Go into sectors that you know about. They also have a MorningStar rating for the fund’s financial strength. Go with the highest rated ones for less volatility.
20+, but less than 30 — Mutual funds are sometimes referred to as plain, but they usually work. I still recommend using INGDirect, Fidelity, and Vanguard for your mutuals funds. Stick with large growth funds, large-value funds, and other sectors you feel comfortable with.
10-20 — Yup, you guessed it mutual funds. Invest using balanced funds, and large growth funds.
Recommended books to read about stocks and mutual funds
Rule #1
Jim Cramer’s Real Money
The Intelligent Investor
The New Buffettology
The Four Pillars of Investing

















[…] Jeremie Beaudry presents So Many Companies. So Little Information. posted at eFIPO Finance and Politics for the Younger Generation, saying, “This article offers a breakdown using a simple quiz to find out where you should invest your money, and find some really good individual results. Every investing tactic is unique and this post provides some answers.” […]
[…] eFIPO.com has created a quiz to determine the best investment strategy for any individual. (708 words; no comments) […]
Round Up of Carnival of Personal Finance #69…
The Carnival of Personal Finance #69 was a great carnival of information sharing with over 50 superb posts. Our post was published at Carnival #69 of Personal Finance Our post Investing - Dilbert’s Personal Finance was published at this carnival. Som….
[…] Faking Patriotism Build Your Wealth in Real Estate How Short Term Goals Make Long Term Results So Many Companies. So Little Information. Don’t Complain When You Don’t […]