Yes to everything the parent said. You can learn most of what you need to know from these two books: "The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armag

Yes to everything the parent said. You can learn most of what you need to know from these two books: "The Investor's Manifesto: Preparing for Prosperity, Armageddon, and Everything in Between" - William J. Bernstein "The Random Walk Guide To Investing" - Burton Malkiel Do I believe that the market is completely efficient, and that it's impossible to beat it over the long term? Absolutely not. But I do believe that there are very few people in this world that can, and I'm darn sure I'm not one of them. Take 80% or 90% of your portfolio, whatever suits you, and follow an index-based approach to investing. Have as much fun as you want with the other 10% or 20%. Best of both worlds.