The stock market seems so complicated! Can I invest in it on my own?

The stock market is only complicated if you do not know what you are doing. If you are willing to do your homework and learn about what it takes to make money through investing, you can certainly be successful in investing on your own.

The big question then is how much help do you want? Most investors do not live in a situation where they can go to the stock floors everyday and battle it out for prime stock. You probably have something a bit more effortless in mind. Consider the following investment help options:

On-line - You can do just about anything on-line these days. For a fee there are many on-line investing companies that can help provide you with the information and the means you need to buy stock. You will have to do the research and decide on which companies you think would be smart investments. It is also up to you to sell and buy at the appropriate times. This option is good for investors who really want to be in complete control of their investments. So if you're concerned that investing is too complicated, this option probably isn't for you.

Broker (full service vs. discount) - Most people choose to invest with brokers. A broker is your investment advocate. Together you can choose what types of risks you are willing to take and what kinds of investments you are interested in. Brokers typically come in two varieties: full service and discount. Full service brokers can get pricey, but they provide one-on-one counseling and advice for your investing. You pay extra to have an expert hold your hand and guide you through all of your investment decisions. A discount broker service is obviously less hands on. You may not ever talk to a real person but discount brokers can still handle your investments for you on more of a generic grouping type of a level. So you receive less personalized attention, but many beginners are not investing in complicated manners that would warrant constant counsel and advice.

Through Work (401K) - Many employers offer investment services as part of their employee benefits. 401K plans are employer sponsored retirement plans that are designed to help you use the stock market to save money for retirement. Employees are introduced to the various different investment portfolios available, employees choose how they would like to invest, and a set percentage of their paychecks are depositing into this investment account. As the employee you are able to manage your investments with as little or as much risk as you want. In essence you can sign up to be part of a 401K program and do nothing else for all the years until you retire, and then reap the benefits of your investment. It doesn't have to be complicated at all!

Indexes - One the many investment options available to you are indexes. Indexes are a compilation of many different kinds of stock. You can choose to invest according to how this grouping is performing. For example, the S&P 500 is an index that follows the performance of 500 companies' stock in a given type of financial market. You can deduce from the performance of this index whether or not you think it's wise to invest with this they type of companies in this financial market. In other words, you can take the research done by index analyst and apply the principles to your own investments.

DRIPs and DIPs
Using Dividend Reinvesting Plans (DRIPs) or Direct Investment Plans (DIPs) you can pay a fee and be able to buy stock directly from the company offering that stock. This is usually a good idea when you only have a small amount of money available for investing and you want to invest on a schedule (say for example you wanted to buy $20 worth of stock from every paycheck you receive). Most companies require a minimum of $10 to be received on a set schedule.