1. Buy at least 10-15 stocks across various industries (or buy an index fund)One of the quickest ways to build a diversified portfolio is to invest in several stocks. A good rule of thumb is to own at least 10 to 15 different companies.However, it's important that they also be from a variety of industries. While it might be tempting to purchase shares of a dozen well-known tech giants and call it a day, that's not proper diversification. If tech spending takes a hit due to an economic slowdown or new government regulations, all those companies' shares could decline in unison. Because of that, investors should make sure they spread their investment dollars around several industries.One quick way to do that for those who don't have the time to research stocks is to buy an index fund. For exa

Nobody's perfect. We are all going to have our wins and losses, especially when it comes to investing. But some of the mistakes you might make when trading stocks are actually pretty common, and by no means reserved exclusively for you alone. In fact, the majority of investors make many of the following mistakes.The good news is that most of these mistakes can be avoided simply through awareness. We will take a look at the 10 most common mistakes and identify ways in which you may be able to stop the habits—or even turn them to your advantage.Not InvestingOf all of the mistakes you might make on your investing journey, perhaps the greatest mistake you could make is not investing at all. Retirement is expensive, and unfortunately, most of us won’t be able to save enough without a lot of hel

A lot of people have been putting money into the stock market for a long time. Cryptocurrency, on the other hand, is a newer phenomenon.Although cryptocurrency has actually been around for many years, it's more recently that investors have been clamoring for it. And if you're eager to grow your money in to a larger sum, you may be thinking of doing the same.But is cryptocurrency the right investment for you? Or are you better off putting your money into stocks? Answer these questions to find out.1. What's your risk tolerance like?Investing in stocks isn't exactly for the faint of heart. The stock market can be very volatile, and sometimes, all it takes is a modest dose of bad news for a company's stock price to plummet.Political turbulence and general economic upheaval can also move the br

I sometimes write articles on more overarching, philosophical, and esoteric issues that investors face. While overarching, this one is neither philosophical nor esoteric.This is a very real issue that many investors face, and it causes many investors to "fail", losing money and falling back down in terms of their net portfolio value.In this article, we'll talk about the issue of moving from one "tier" of income or net worth to the next, and the challenges that I as well as others face.You may remember the article where I wrote about having reached one of my initial investment goals, in when my investable portfolio assets, or my "cash", went above $1,000,000 a few weeks back.This is a significant milestone for many investors. It's one of those things that many of my readers, friends, and ev

Famously successful investor Warren Buffett has said that most investors will be best served over the long term by putting their dollars into a fund that tracks the S&P 500 index. With a 302% total return over the last 10 years and a nearly 2,000% total return over the last three decades, it's not surprising that the Oracle of Omaha is touting the wisdom of putting your money in a diversified fund that tracks the popular benchmark index. On the other hand, investors who are willing to take on more risk may be able to improve their overall performance and achieve better returns than the market at large. With that in mind, a panel of Motley Fool contributors have identified three ways that investors can put themselves in position to outperform the S&P 500 index. Read on to see why th