Where to start investing in 2026?

[Piter]

I've been thinking more and more about investing lately, but there's so much information out there that it's easy to get confused. Some recommend stocks, others crypto, and still others say to start with ETFs and keep things simple.

I'd be interested in hearing from those already in the know:

What's the best place for a beginner to start? Does it make sense to start with a small amount? What should I focus on now in 2026?

I'd appreciate any advice and personal experience.

 

[Don Coyote]

Don't invest more than you're willing to lose.

I "invest" like I gamble at the casino. Most of my stocks come from the OTC exchanges. My latest fetish is an "A.I. Security" firm from Detroit. (AITXD). It just did a reverse split. (damnit) ..... It's four cents a share, and appears to have sky-high potential. (But a lot of people hate it and believe it's a scam).

Very high risk....... but could have very high returns if it goes on a run. (2026 could be their year).

I made $36,000 on high risk OTC stocks in 2020. (Been bust ever since).

It's easier to make real money when you have real money to work with. Starting from the bottom is almost impossible.

Be careful.

 

[Ringo]

Don't invest more than you're willing to lose.

I "invest" like I gamble at the casino. Most of my stocks come from the OTC exchanges. My latest fetish is an "A.I. Security" firm from Detroit. (AITXD). It just did a reverse split. (damnit) ..... It's four cents a share, and appears to have sky-high potential. (But a lot of people hate it and believe it's a scam).

Very high risk....... but could have very high returns if it goes on a run. (2026 could be their year).

I made $36,000 on high risk OTC stocks in 2020. (Been bust ever since).

It's easier to make real money when you have real money to work with. Starting from the bottom is almost impossible.

Be careful.

I think for those of us who don't really know what they are doing with stocks, especially penny stocks, your best bet for investing in the stock market will be mutual funds. They come in every flavor, from low risk to high risk and everything in between.

 

[Kevlar]

I'm certainly no expert, in fact don't even have stocks or investments like that, but I always say the safest investment is precious metals. You might not always make lots, except the last couple of years, but you'll never really lose. But it's a long term investment, more of a storage of wealth than an investment really.

As a farmer I've never really had money to invest in things outside the farm so my circumstances will be different than most people's.

 

[Ringo]

I'm certainly no expert, in fact don't even have stocks or investments like that, but I always say the safest investment is precious metals. You might not always make lots, except the last couple of years, but you'll never really lose. But it's a long term investment, more of a storage of wealth than an investment really.

As a farmer I've never really had money to invest in things outside the farm so my circumstances will be different than most people's.

Good advice. That's something I've been meaning to get into. And with gold so high, I'm thinking more along the lines of silver. Just bear in mind that you need the ability to safely store said precious metals. Tangible assets in general are usually a safe bet. I've certainly not made the best investment choices in my life, but the one very good investment I made was the piece of property I live on. I made sure to purchase land with full mineral rights, and (fingers crossed) it's looking like that might finally pay off.

 

[waybomb]

A little bit every paycheck into a Fidelity or a Vanguard index fund, no matter what the market is doing, will eventually make you a millionaire if you start early enough.
Ignore the fluctuations. Religiously invest every pay check.

 

[bczoom]

NOTE TO MEMBERS - Unless you're a licensed fiduciary, please avoid naming specific investments/stocks.

Disclaimer completed, I too would recommend index or sector funds.

Precious metals "can" work but I've never heard anyone say that more than 10% of your portfolio should be in metals. Most say around 5%.

Real estate and other hard goods do work well as long as you are prepared to go long-haul.

Don't invest more than you're willing to lose.

Be careful.

Sound advise.

 

[Melensdad]

NOTE TO MEMBERS - Unless you're a licensed fiduciary, please avoid naming specific investments/stocks.

Disclaimer completed, I too would recommend index or sector funds.

Precious metals "can" work but I've never heard anyone say that more than 10% of your portfolio should be in metals. Most say around 5%.

Real estate and other hard goods do work well as long as you are prepared to go long-haul.


Sound advise.

Outside of real estate, for the last couple of years I was heavily invested in precious metals, mining and refining thereof. Probably 50-70% of my portfolio depending upon the valuation date. I did a modest bit of trying to sell at peak and buy at bottoms. So I was not so much a buy & hold guy. But it worked out very very well for me. Way better than the index fund returns. Not so much "day trading" as perhaps week or month trading. Moving from a metal to cash back to a metal or mine or refiner. Oil did well for me too, traded similarly.

Not at the same levels today, but I would think that some of the metals might be really good investments coming into the future.

Copper is overlooked. Silver has industrial and intrinsic value. Uranium could be tossed into the mix with metals. Gold, obviously. And the various mining stocks for each of the metals. And refining for Uranium. There are ETFs for these too.

Just my personal, amateur, investing. Take it all for whatever it's worth, which may well be nothing moving forward. But in the recent past they did me well.

 

[Don Coyote]

NOTE TO MEMBERS - Unless you're a licensed fiduciary, please avoid naming specific investments/stocks.

Hey...... I made certain to mention that it was risky and that some consider it a scam.

............... I should go work for Fisher Investments.

(Or Liberty Bibberty?)

 

[Essa]

Well, i think the beat strategy is to aim for long-term little profits, resulted from small stocks, just each month, take like 10% from your monthly salary and buy with them stocks from a company you belrive it will stay for so long, and fir tge next month do the same but for another company, each one of those companies, at certain point will share profits, so you will get little money transfered to you, but each year , the price of your stocks will increase, and after 20 years, those stocks will become a fortune when you retire

You could go for short term money by buying stocks then whenver their price go up you sell them, but it is too risky and stressful, maybe consume your life energy to focus on lenjoying your life

You could go for simple business, renting an empty room you got in your house for tourists, through online application, thats another good income

You could offer a service to be tour guide for couple hours or any time yiu feel free, through special apps for that, plus oppurtinty to connect with new people outside

These ideas are stress free and require no talent and skill just some patience and persistency

Hope you find them inspiring
Best of luck

 

[Doc]

I've never played stocks on my own. I let my investment dude take care of most of it. I bought some tesla stock a few years ago. Currently I'm eyeing the Space X IPO coming up in June I think. I'm thinking I will put a few dollars into that.

 

[Essa]

I've never played stocks on my own. I let my investment dude take care of most of it. I bought some tesla stock a few years ago. Currently I'm eyeing the Space X IPO coming up in June I think. I'm thinking I will put a few dollars into that.

Investment dude? You mean like hiring investment advisor?

 

[Doc]

Investment dude? You mean like hiring investment advisor?

Yes, He's a professional financial advisor that works at an investment firm.

 

[300 H and H]

My experience is not very normal in most sense. I had invested retirement funds in mutual funds since I started saving in the early 80's.
Along about 2014 I decided Mutual funds were way to expensive, as they were actively trading my funds and collecting fee's every time, they did so. My thought is why trade, when I want to actually be and investor myself. In a mutual fund you have no idea who you are funding, who to congratulate for a gain or cuss out for a loss. As a farmer I am used to paying attention to markets and know the risks of commodities trading. I also became aware of the counter cyclical nature of commodities and the stock market. When one is doing well often times the other is thriving, and sometimes both do well at the same time. Rarely both are down at once.

So, I sold out of mutual funds, grabbed the oars and started to row my own boat, knowing it is only I who I can blame or praise for gains or lose. Since that time the retirement fund has done about 5X of its original value. I do not trade, I invest and hold for the most part. Maybe once a year I change my portfolio.

If you can divorce your emotions from your money and just remember statistically over time the markets are up 85% of the time and only down 15% of the time you have some confidence that long term you will do very well. Eliminating the middleman, the mutual fund has been my secret sauce to get where I wanted to be and then some. It has worked very well for me over the past 12 years. You pick the time you buy, and you let the market and your needs tell you when to sell. Selling at a loss is to be avoided at all practical costs. Being patient and waiting without worry is harder to do but as a farmer I am used to taking risks, so I look at it a bit differently. Daily stock values are not what I check daily. I try to keep emotions out of it. Hard for some to do.

I do keep an eye on quarterly earnings to verify the health of the companies I own. As long as the fundamentals have not changed I look at the daily value as just market opinion, not fact. Sooner or later the value is going to be based off the facts not the rumors or fake news.
Just as in politics there are those who present fake news to sway the market short term. Yet another reason to not pay to much attention on the daily value of the stock. It becomes a waiting game waiting for the day to sell at a profit. Patience, lack of emotions are required.

So, to the risk takers go the rewards. This has always been true no matter who you are or what you do.

So that is my story, your milage may vary.

 

[300 H and H]

P.S.

I am near 66 yrs old. I will stay invested just as I am while retired.
I don't believe in Roth conversions as the net increase in the value of the money invested will exceed the increase in taxes.
I will pass from this life still owning stocks. I will not retire from that.
The equity market is the only professional sport I watch.

 

[Essa]

My experience is not very normal in most sense. I had invested retirement funds in mutual funds since I started saving in the early 80's.
Along about 2014 I decided Mutual funds were way to expensive, as they were actively trading my funds and collecting fee's every time, they did so. My thought is why trade, when I want to actually be and investor myself. In a mutual fund you have no idea who you are funding, who to congratulate for a gain or cuss out for a loss. As a farmer I am used to paying attention to markets and know the risks of commodities trading. I also became aware of the counter cyclical nature of commodities and the stock market. When one is doing well often times the other is thriving, and sometimes both do well at the same time. Rarely both are down at once.

So, I sold out of mutual funds, grabbed the oars and started to row my own boat, knowing it is only I who I can blame or praise for gains or lose. Since that time the retirement fund has done about 5X of its original value. I do not trade, I invest and hold for the most part. Maybe once a year I change my portfolio.

If you can divorce your emotions from your money and just remember statistically over time the markets are up 85% of the time and only down 15% of the time you have some confidence that long term you will do very well. Eliminating the middleman, the mutual fund has been my secret sauce to get where I wanted to be and then some. It has worked very well for me over the past 12 years. You pick the time you buy, and you let the market and your needs tell you when to sell. Selling at a loss is to be avoided at all practical costs. Being patient and waiting without worry is harder to do but as a farmer I am used to taking risks, so I look at it a bit differently. Daily stock values are not what I check daily. I try to keep emotions out of it. Hard for some to do.

I do keep an eye on quarterly earnings to verify the health of the companies I own. As long as the fundamentals have not changed I look at the daily value as just market opinion, not fact. Sooner or later the value is going to be based off the facts not the rumors or fake news.
Just as in politics there are those who present fake news to sway the market short term. Yet another reason to not pay to much attention on the daily value of the stock. It becomes a waiting game waiting for the day to sell at a profit. Patience, lack of emotions are required.

So, to the risk takers go the rewards. This has always been true no matter who you are or what you do.

So that is my story, your milage may vary.

Thank you for sharing, as somone still learning the craft through small steady jumps, your experience is kinda inspiring and reassuring to me,

Best of luck with your adventures