Steps For Smart Investing

How do you invest if you are just starting or are not a professional investor?

You can start doing what the most experienced never do, and avoid many of the pitfalls they may stumble into.

Do not trade securities for this basic reason: Research invariably shows that you cannot time the market. So avoid any web sites that entice you with stock trading tips.
Open an account with a very low cost mutual fund family of funds.  
    
Do not make a habit of buying individual securities.The analysts who claim they know all about them know very little for two reasons. First: Analysts are not really versed in business. Secondly: They cannot get close enough to understand a business that even the CEO often finds difficult to comprehend. (See the Earl J. Weinreb NewsHole® comments and @BusinesNewshole at Twitter.)