Don't Know A Bear From A Bull? These Investing Tips Can Help! Do the returns you seek on your investments ever actually materialize? It is a draw for many investors, however very few people have the proper information to be truly successful. Read this article to learn all you can to boost your earnings. When you are investing your money into the stock market, keep it simple. Keep all your investment activities simple so that you don't take unnecessary risks in the market. Monitor the stock market before you actually enter it. Before investing, you want to watch the market for awhile. A good rule of thumb would be to keep your eye on the ups and downs for three years. This way, you will have a better idea of exactly how the market works, and will have more chance of actually making money. Do not forget that stocks that you purchase and sell amount to more than mere pieces of paper. While you are a stock owner, you own a part of a company. This means you are entitled to both claims and earnings. In most cases, you are also allowed to vote on matters of corporate leadership or major business decisions like mergers. Do not forget to exercise your right to vote if you happen to own common stocks. You may also have a voice in whether a company may make other changes which will affect shareholder value. Voting happens either through the mail or in an annual shareholders' meeting. Choose stocks that can produce better than average returns which are about 10% annually. If you want to estimate your likely return from an individual stock, find the projected earnings growth rate and the dividend yield and add them. If your stock yields 3% and also has 10% earnings growth, expect somewhere around a 13% overall return. If you would like to pick your own stocks but also want a broker that provides full service, consider working with one that will offer you both options. That way you can dedicated one half, give or take, to a professional for management and handle the rest yourself. This strategy gives you both control and professional assistance in your investing. When investing in the stock market, make sure you have a itemized plan with specific goals written down so that you can judge your level of investment as time passes. The plan must include strategies of when you will sell or buy your stocks. Budgeting your investments should also be a goal here before you put any money in. This will help you to make prudent choices, instead of being rash and relying on your emotions. If you are new at investing in stocks, you should create and maintain a simple investing strategy and plan. Diversifying and trying to do too much at first isn't the wisest way to go for the beginner. Slow and steady will earn you the most over time. You can sometimes find bargains with stocks that have taken a short-term hit because of bad news. Make sure you are investing in companies that have a small downturn and not a permanent loss of value. If a company misses a deadline because of a temporary situation, its stock can plummet as investors flee. However, if a company finds itself in the middle of a financial scandal, it might never recover.