Learn to invest, step by step
Plain-English guides for US beginners: brokerage accounts, Roth IRA and 401(k), index funds, P/E, dividends and how to analyze a stock. No tips, no jargon.
These guides are written for people in the US who are starting to invest. They explain the accounts (taxable brokerage, Roth IRA, traditional IRA and 401(k)), the building blocks (index funds and ETFs) and the tools to understand a single company (P/E, the balance sheet, free cash flow and competitive moats).
Every guide follows the same rules as the rest of Fintols: plain words, every term explained the first time, numerical examples clearly marked as illustrations and never a tip on what to buy. When an article mentions a company, it links to that company's page with its real, dated figures.
Start here
- How to Start Investing With Little Money (Even $50 a Month): You don't need thousands of dollars to start investing. Here is how to go from zero to your first automatic contribution, step by step.
- How to Choose a Brokerage Account as a Beginner: What to check before opening your first brokerage account: regulation, SIPC protection, account types, costs and the features that matter for beginners.
- Emergency Fund: How Much to Save Before You Invest: An emergency fund is step one of any investing plan. How much to save, where to keep it and how to calculate it from your real expenses.
- 7 Common Beginner Investing Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them): Most beginner investing mistakes are about behavior, not math. Here are the seven most common ones and what to do instead.
- S&P 500 vs Total Market vs World Index: What's the Difference?: The three index types beginners see most. What's inside the S&P 500, a total US market fund and a global fund, and how to think about choosing.
Analyze a company
- P/E Ratio and EPS Explained: How to Read Them Without Traps: What EPS and the P/E ratio measure, how to calculate them, and how to use them together without mistaking a cheap number for a bargain.
- Dollar-Cost Averaging vs. Market Timing: Which Fits You?: How regular, automatic investing compares with trying to time the market, and how to pick the approach that fits your money and your nerves.
- Dividend Growth Investing: FCF Payout Ratio and Compounding: How to check whether a dividend is safe using free cash flow, and how reinvesting payouts can compound over time.
- How to Read a Balance Sheet: A Beginner's Guide: A practical walk through liquidity, debt, and asset quality to judge a company's financial health from its SEC filings.
- How to Write an Investment Thesis (Step by Step): A simple structure for turning a stock idea into a written argument with evidence, risks and clear conditions for changing your mind.
- Using AI to Analyze Stocks: A Practical, Careful Guide: AI can summarize filings and organize data in seconds, but every number it gives you has to be checked against the original source.
- DCF and WACC Explained: A Practical Valuation Guide: How a discounted cash flow model works, step by step: free cash flow, the WACC discount rate, terminal value and sensitivity analysis.
- Economic Moats Explained: From Warren Buffett to AI: What a moat is, how to tell whether a company really has one, and which new competitive barriers are appearing in the age of AI.