That's simply because you're far less likely to panic if you see the price of your stocks fluctuate dramatically. Another basic is something you no doubt heard as a child - "never put all you eggs in one basket". It's as true today as it ever was and will be forever no doubt. Of course we all want to be in at the bottom of the latest, greatest stellar investment but to put all your cash into that one stock isn't investing its gambling. This can be sometimes overlooked in the excitement of making your first investment but it can have a serious impact on your performance. If you are what is called "risk averse" you will probably be a nervous wreck if you put all your money into high risk shares. By learning to manage your risk levels you can ensure that you only select positions you will feel comfortable with over the medium to long term life of your portfolio. So before committing yourself to going with a particular organization ensure you do your homework. Check around and see how they have done for other people if you can. Make some calls to your state consumer affairs bureau and also the Better Business Bureau to see if there have been any problems in the past. Something which does need considering is the question of charges. This applies whichever type of broker and whatever method is used for that very first investment. Many new investors wrongly assume that all their money will go directly into buying the investment they have chosen and forget that there are different prices for buying and selling stocks. Ok the minuses include horrendously high rates of interest but on the other side of the coin they can be invaluable in emergencies. Just don't use them as long term loans because they were never designed for that kind of borrowing. If you are finding that you have outstanding balances of two, three or more credit cards you will probably be well advised to look into taking out a debt consolidation loan. Though technologically these accounts are quite advanced and secure, there are a lot of people who are still quite apprehensive about their ways of working and would not like to trust them with their money. The Ugly Side of Online Savings Accounts Identity theft through the Internet is a very real problem and the online savings accounts are prime targets.