Investing Online For Dummies, 7th Edition

Chapter 2. Getting Your PC Ready for Online Investing

In This Chapter

• Turning your PC into an online investing station

• Pinpointing online media that can make you a more informed investor

• Turning blogs and podcasts into research tools

• Practicing your techniques with online tutorials and simulations

• Scouring the Internet with search engines

• Securing your computer from online financial crooks

You live in a do-it-yourself world. You're expected to fill your own gas tank at the service station, refill your own soda at the fast-food restaurant, and book your own airline tickets. It's the same story with investing. If you want to reach your financial goals and retire comfortably, it's up to you to make it happen. The age of employers looking after their workers' futures with pensions is vanishing and being replaced with do-it-yourself retirement plans like 401(k)s.

If you ask for help, you're almost always pointed to the Internet and told to look it up or do your own research. That sounds reasonable, except that the Internet is a massive collection of Web pages, and you can find dozens if not hundreds of sources for investing advice, much of which is conflicting or, worse, wrong. No wonder many investors throw their hands up in utter frustration.

That's where this chapter comes in. In Chapter 1, I fill you in on what it takes to prepare yourself to be an online investor. Here in Chapter 2, it's time to prepare your computer for online investing and make it a tool that quickly provides you with ...