By Kristin G., Assistant Director, Client Education and Guest Blogger
I was two hours into the Go! St. Louis half marathon, the April skies were clear blue and I could see the finish line straight ahead. The crowd was rooting and yelling, “You can do it. Come on. Don’t Stop!” But every muscle in my body was aching, and my shoes were feeling like they weighed 40 pounds. I whispered to myself, “I trained for this. I can do this.”
Then, when I didn’t think I had an ounce of energy left, I took off in a mad sprint. The next thing I knew I was crossing the finish line, with my arms raised high in a ‘V’ like an Olympic runner.
Finally, all my months of running and dedication paid off. Getting to the finish line was a personal accomplishment, but it didn’t come without hard work and determination. During my months of training there were days when I just wanted to hit snooze in the morning or run two miles instead of six, but I took a disciplined approach and followed through. The same can be said with how you approach trading and investing. You can approach it half-way, cutting corners here or there, or you can make a commitment and put together a structured learning program.
How to Establish a Good Learning Plan for Trading and Investing
If you are serious about trading and investing, consider putting together a learning plan just like you would any other commitment:
• Write it out and display it where you can see it everyday
• Define your expectations
• Set attainable weekly, monthly and quarterly goals
• Make it realistic for your lifestyle and trading or investing strategy
What to Include in Your Learning Plan - No Matter Your Skill Level
Daily Activity – Devote time to get to know the language of investing. Our Knowledge Center has hundreds of trading and investing terms. By simply browsing the glossary and learning a new term each day, you can better understand trading, investing and the stock market.
Weekly Activity – In order to trade with confidence, you’ll need to learn how to use online trading tools appropriate for your skill level. Consider blocking off time once a week to view one of our on-demand videos, which shows you the different features and ways to use the tool effectively.
Another weekly activity is the Strategy Sessions brought to you by Learning Markets1. It is a live webinar hosted every Tuesday and Thursday that shows how to reduce risk and apply fundamental and technical analysis.
Monthly or Quarterly Activity - Every so often it is beneficial to add variety to any routine. I did it quite a few times while I was training for my half marathon, and you can change things up with your learning plan by simply attending a branch seminar on a monthly or quarterly basis. Our seminar topics range from how to boost your buying power with margin to how to predict movement with technical indicators.
Annual Activity – You may also want to think about participating in a Client Education Conference once a year or join the fun of our Fantasy Portfolio Challenge, which lets you practice trading risk-free and build a portfolio with virtual money.
Whatever you decide to put in your learning plan, remember there are no shortcuts to success. The best way to approach it is to organize it in a way that what works best for you. That is what I had to do when training for the half marathon.
What do you do to learn more about investing and trading?
Also of Interest:
• #STCEC: Four Events to Help Improve Your Trading & Investing Strategies
• A Do-It-Yourself Investor on the Road to Financial Freedom
Kristin G. has been with Scottrade since 2003. She started her career at Scottrade as a stockbroker and now is the assistant director of client education.
1The Scottrade® Daily Market Commentary Series and Scottrade® Daily Strategy Series are produced by Learning Markets, LLC. The materials presented are being provided to you for educational purposes only. Scottrade, Inc. and its affiliates have not created and are not responsible for such materials. The content of such materials has not been adopted, endorsed or approved by Scottrade or its affiliates. The content was created and is being presented by employees or representatives of Learning Markets, LLC who are not employed by or affiliated with Scottrade or its affiliates. The information presented or discussed is not a recommendation or an offer of, or solicitation of an offer by, Scottrade or its affiliates to buy, sell or hold any security or other financial product or an endorsement or affirmation of any specific investment strategy. You are fully responsible for your investment decisions. Your choice to engage in a particular investment or investment strategy should be based solely on your own research and evaluation of the risks involved, your financial circumstances and your investment objectives. Scottrade and its affiliates are not offering or providing, and will not offer or provide, any advice, opinion or recommendation of the suitability, value or profitability of any particular investment or investment strategy.