DOUGLAS GERLACH ON:
Investor Education

Every investor was once a beginner. Today, however, there are many resources to help you learn more about the stock market and managing your personal finances. Doug writes frequently on topics of interest to new investors, and this area features articles, tutorials, and other Web resources that can help you learn to invest and reach your financial goals.

• SSG Tutorial -- Want to learn how to invest? The Stock Selection Guide is the tool most used by investment clubs to analyze stocks, and Doug's easy-to-understand tutorial has been helping investors to master this method of stock analysis for more than six years.

• Understanding NAIC's Preferred Procedure -- A tutorial on making revenue-based earnings projections, including a downloadable Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to help you make the required calculations.

• SSG Reader -- A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to import datafiles from NAIC's Online Premium Services and discover the hidden data they contain.

• Stock Selling Guide (Adobe Acrobat) -- A worksheet that outlines considerations for selling stocks from your portfolio.

• Round Trip Worksheet -- A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to help you make better decisions about replacing stocks in your portfolio.

• Investment Clubs -- Investment clubs are a great way to learn about investing. Absolute beginners to the stock market can join or form a club and develop a methodology for investing that will help them to secure financial success that will last a lifetime. Doug Gerlach is a leading expert on the investment club movement, helping to educate individuals on starting and running investment clubs, and uncovering the online tools you can use to make your club even more successful.

• DRIPs and Direct Stock Investing -- Learn about strategies and resources that can help you start investing in stocks, with as little as $50 a month. DRIPs (Dividend ReInvestment Plans) and DSPs (Direct Stock Plans) could be your keys to building a portfolio of stocks.