As a new entrant into the stock market you will keep hearing about the terms NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ and more of the international ones nowadays like HangSeng or the LSE or even the Luxembourg stock exchange.

Imagine this scenario – you have received a windfall of $25,000, and you know you should invest for the future. Before you sign up and sign away that money, ask yourself this question – if you’re living paycheck to paycheck with high interest credit card companies hounding you via letter, telephone and via ninja agents pounding on your door, is it a good time to start investing? The answer is obvious, “Of course not!”