2017
You asked, we answered. The State Securities Board’s flagship publication, theTexas Investor Guide: Strategies for Investing Wisely and Avoiding Financial Fraud, is back in stock, updated for 2017, and available for free.
The Investor Guide provides unbiased, straightforward information on the time-tested principles of investing and shows you the tools you need to research financial professionals and avoid fraud.
The Investor Guide is also available in a Spanish edition. To obtain free copies of either Investor Guide, provide a mailing address to Robert Elder, Communications & Investor Education Coordinator, at relder@ssb.texas.gov, and specify the number of copies you would like to receive.
Learning about investing is more important than ever because individuals have more responsibility than ever for achieving their financial goals.
Traditional pensions are dwindling like polar ice caps, and there is the possibility that Social Security may increasingly replace less of the income a retiree earned while working.
The Investor Guide cuts through financial clutter with jargon-free explanations of:
- Investing for growth – although investing always carries risk, it’s hard to achieve your financial goals otherwise;
- The basics of mutual funds, including target date funds, and how to invest in them;
- Asset classes such as stocks, bonds, CDs, real estate, and cash, and how they generally differ in risk and performance;
- Understanding and controlling the cost of investments;
- Examples of simple, easy-to-assemble investment portfolios that help you strike a balance between risk and return;
- Putting together the pieces of a secure retirement, including IRAs, 401(k)s, and knowing the strategies of claiming Social Security benefits;
- Avoiding scams and high-risk investments, complete with ripped-from-our case-files examples of fraud; and
- How to increase the odds of finding a financial professional you can trust.
Supplementing the Investor Guide are periodically updated articles that expand upon the topics in the Investor Guide.
Learning about investing is a lifelong process. State Securities Board investor education resources are a good place to start or continue on the path to financial security.