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FINAL WORDS

I hope that this book has been able to add substantially to your knowledge of the financial world. Even if you only have learned a couple of items, this book has done its job. I wrote it more as a reference than a book to be read from cover to cover. And you probably noticed that for the most part you could skip sections and not feel like you have missed something. Believe it or not, even I use this book from time to time as a reference or just to brush up on some of the material. One can't remember everything.

This book was never intended to be an advice giver. When it comes to personal investment, my belief is that everyone has their own unique style of investing and there cannot be a one-size-fits-all strategy. We must all find our own way of investing, but in order to do that we need to know what our choices are. I have tried to give you all available options for investing your money and then let you find the way of investing that suits you the most. But there is one piece of advice I feel compelled to give and that is not to forget investing for the long term. You want to have a little fun and take some risk, go right ahead. But always keep the retirement picture in mind and put away enough money for your future.

Time has an almost magical effect on an investment. It allows you to take advantage of what is known as compounded return. The more time you allow an investment to grow and the more you contribute to it, the more you will reap in the end. Compounded return is like rolling a snowball in a field of snow. The snowball may start out small, but as …