Overcome The Fear Of Investing Parker CO

At some stage, most of us put off investing. We know we should do it. But it seems so complicated. And sometimes the payoff feels a long way off. But don't wait. "In my first job at Working Woman magazine, I earned all of $11,000 a year," recalls Jean Chatzky, "NBC Today" show financial editor and author of "Make Money, Not Excuses."

"I was living payday to payday. Money was a nuisance, a worry, a strain." And Ms. Chatzky did a lousy job of managing it. "Not only did I neglect to pay bills, I racked up credit card debt equal to half a year's salary," she says. She let her first 401(k) retirement account wallow in low-earning money market funds. And when she left her employer, she didn't know to move the $2,000 that had accumulated into another retirement account - an IRA - or she'd be penalized and taxed. She cashed out and paid the taxes. "I bought a few new outfits with the rest," Ms. Chatzky says. She wishes she'd invested that money: "I've run the numbers. It would be worth a significant five figures."

That doesn't have to happen to you. Frederick Kobrick, a leading money manager who wrote "The Big Money: Seven Steps to Picking Great Stocks and Finding Financial Security," says, "It can be like riding a bicycle. At first it looks almost impossible to a child. But we are all born with a sense of balance and just have to learn to use it." It's easy to start investing at any age. ...