Originally Posted by strobe

I started investing for fun back in 2001 and that was a lousy time to get in. A lot of stocks I brought back then is now worthless. I also don't really have the patience or time to do a lot of research, which may be why I'm not doing that well. It's probably easier when you have a good chunk of money to start with. With a few thousand, even if a stock goes up like 25-50%, its only a few hundred dollars profit. My mom does pretty well with the stock market.. my dad on the other hand, like to hold onto a stock forever and ends up losing all the gains when the stocks fall. Lately I've been just following a few stocks and when it falls down to a certain point, I buy and sell when I make around 20% back. Only play with a few thousand, so I end up having money locked into a stock for a long time if it falls into the red and not having any money to buy more.

For the lazy investor, investing in mutual funds may be better. You might not get as big returns, but it's less risk since the funds are diversified already and the fund managers do all the research for you.

Overall, investing is a good idea. You are only making so much money working at a job, and if you can get your money to make more with you doing nothing or barely anything, it's worth it. Passive income kicks ass.