Devoted to understanding the basics and fundamentals of investing

As part of the 2008 investment knowledge series I thought it would be beneficial to create a checklist for individual investors. This checklist will provide investors with an idea of what kind of things they should be doing while investing their money. The things that need to be done before investing money and after investing your money will both be a part of this list.

2008 Checklist for individual investors

• Use those abundant sources available to you to research individual stock picks and mutual fund investments. (Morningstar, Google Finance, and StockCharts are all great sources of information)
• Figure out what kind of risk you want to take in your portfolio before even researching individual investments. Understanding what levels of risk you are willing to take on will allow you to setup your portfolio the way you wish.
• Diversify your investments. Concentrated investments can make returns look great for a short period of time, but in the long run diversification is the way to go.
• Make sure when researching, you are using reliable sources and not someone who is trying to profit from giving you advice. Newsletters and advertisements are generally not good sources of investment advice.
• Speculate enough, but not too much. Speculation is necessary to a certain degree, but too many speculative stocks will generally lead investors to lower returns over time.
• After buying your stocks or funds, keep up with your investments. Allowing an investment to just ride without ever knowing what is going on with it is reckless.
• Leave your emotions away from your investments. It is the single biggest mistake that individual investors make, letting their emotions take control and making rash decisions.
• Steer clear of using your investment portfolio as a checking account. By this I mean you should never allow your investment decisions to be controlled by an upcoming bill. If you are financially not able to keep your money in the investment account, wait until you are able to do so before opening the account.
• Plan for retirement early. It is never too early to plan for your retirement through investments.
• Utilize the 401k option at your employer and take advantage of all matching contributions whenever possible.
• Utilize the Roth IRA which is an amazing tool to use for long term wealth.
• Have fun while investing. Investing shouldn't be a chore, it should be something that you enjoy. If you don't enjoy investing, you probably shouldn't be controlling your own money, rather you should be getting a financial adviser. 

I hope that some investors are able to use this list as a guide going forward as to how to maximize their long-term wealth through investing. Controlling your own investments is one of the most important things you will ever do, as it has a great deal of significance in the financial well-being of you and your entire family. 2008 is as good a year of any to make sure you are doing things the right way while investing.