It’s a good time to add this post on Investor Academy. Especially as a new wave of crypto bullishness is in the markets again. I am once again receiving phone calls and messages where people are asking: “How can I get Bitcoin?” “Is it too late?” “Which coins to buy?” This is a sign that […]
Author: Kiril Nikolaev, CFA
About: Kiril Nikolaev
- Kiril Nikolaev is the founder and main writer of InvestorAcademy.org. Mr. Nikolaev's educational background is in finance and he's a CFA Charterholder. He has worked as a financial analyst for BMO Financial Group, which is one of the largest banks in Canada. He's also worked at Mitre Media where he was responsible for content strategy and product management for a few of their properties, including ETFdb.com, MutualFunds.com, Dividend.com, and a few others. Some other financial writing work can be found on CCN.com, Earn2Trade.com and many other websites. His passion is in investment finance and he loves to spread awareness of finance and analysis, so that anyone can become an investor. Hire Kiril on Upwork, or find him on LinkedIn.
How to Grow Your Net Worth with Residential Rental Real Estate Investing
Residential real estate investing is one of the fastest ways of growing your net worth and becoming rich. This detailed article will show you how, based on a real example with real numbers. It will also talk about the first real estate deal I’ve ever done a few years ago. So I made many mistakes […]
Fundamental Analysis: 4 Most Important Financial Statements
Fundamental analysis is the process of studying the financial and economic health of a security or a company in order to make informed investment decision making. This involves an in-depth and thorough examination of the accounting books and interpreting the results. This involves looking at and analyzing the financial statements of a company. Financial statements […]
Top 10 Fundamental Analysis Indicators for All Investors
The maxim “knowledge is power” applies to just about every facet of everyday life, but even more so when it comes to investing in the financial markets. In today’s online, computer-driven investing world, knowing the right information is often the difference between being an investor in the driver’s seat of your investments and a helpless […]
How to Read a Stock Quote
Investors and traders consider various details about a stock before they buy it. In this article, we will discuss the different terms often seen in stock quotes so you learn the basics of how to buy stocks. For this article, we’ll use Yahoo! Finance for all the major stock quote data. Other sites and resources […]
Asset Allocation Vs. Security Selection – What’s the Difference?
Diversification is used to reduce an investor’s exposure to the risk of a particular asset class or security. By diversifying, an investor is less likely to suffer a major loss compared to what the risk would be if the portfolio was concentrated in a single asset or security. Diversification is a technical topic but here are […]
6 Common Ways of Investing in Real Estate
Real estate is one of the best asset classes to invest in. Financial advisors and portfolio managers won’t tell you this because they don’t earn percentage fees when you invest in real estate unless you are buying a real estate investment trust (REIT) fund or ETF. Obviously, if you speak to mortgage brokers and real […]
Intro to Forex Trading for Beginners
Foreign exchange (forex) is where investors and traders buy and sell currencies to try and make a profit. To maximize their earnings in forex trading, traders buy currencies for as low a price as possible and then sell for higher prices. Essentially, when you bet on a currency to go up, you’re also betting on […]
Pros and Cons of Having an Investment Adviser
Children with verbal developmental delays need speech therapists so they can improve their communication skills. Athletes need coaches to enhance their strategies in their chosen sport. Professional singers reached their success not on talent alone, but also with the mentoring from voice instructors. One doesn’t become an established baker overnight, sometimes he or she needs […]
What are Stock Splits?
Let’s compare stock splits to slices of pizza for a sec. Let’s say you have a whole pizza. You split the pizza into 6 slices. But you realize it is an extra-large pizza, so dividing it into so few slices means each one is huge. Therefore, you decide it’ll be better to cut it into […]
Divide and Conquer: Defining The Stock Market Sectors
Chances are, 90% of the girl world has “Mean Girls” listed as one of their favorite movies. There’s probably no other movie that can measure up to the number of notable lines remembered up to this day by anyone, ever! Tina Fey, you are a genius! Before we get carried away, the point here is […]
Business Cycle 101
We’ve all heard that Maroon 5 song line “it’s not always rainbows and butterflies”. We definitely wish life were just a walk in the park, but there ain’t no better teacher than challenges and experiences, right? Like the wonderful mess than is our life, businesses have their upsown and downs, too. Businesses and the economy […]
Market Capitalization VS Book Value
Isn’t it crazy that a G.I. Joe action figure only cost two dollars or so in the 80’s? Yet here we are, thirty-ish years after, and the same action figure sells for $280 in eBay! That’s about 13,900% increase! Insane, right? So, how could this happen? How can something that was bought for $2 sells […]
Assets, Liabilities and Equity: The Building Blocks of a Company
At some point in your life, you have definitely owned something (We hope you still do until now!). Take for example your hard-earned money. In exchange for doing your job, you get paid with “cash”. The money that you earn becomes yours. This money is considered as your asset because you own it. But.. SURPRISE! […]
Understanding Technical Analysis
Before a year begins, most of us anticipate what the next color of the year will be. Superstitious people would want to wear something with a shade of that color when the clock strikes midnight of January 1st. Fashion labels would want to know what that color is as soon as possible so they can […]
9 Reasons Why Stock Prices Change Every Second
Now picture this – you are on Wall Street and you see all these flashy numbers on the board that change every time you turn around. Sounds like a familiar movie scene? Now, you may ask: Why in the world do these numbers change all the time? The short answer is two words: Supply and […]
Basic Investment Approach Definitions: Chicken, Pigs and Stock Market Risk
What does a farm and the Stock Market have in common? Chicken and pigs. Yes, that’s right. Forget the age-old question “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?”. The new question would be “Are you a chicken, a pig, or neither?”. The terms chicken and pig are used to describe investors based on their […]
What Are the Major Asset Classes and How Do You Invest in Them?
Oftentimes, when a subject is too broad and complex, people tend to classify it into “groups” to simplify identification, observation and analysis. Take for example the entire animal kingdom that you and I are both apart of (unless, of course, you’re an alien, yikes!). There are a lot of different creatures in the animal kingdom […]
Basic Investment Definitions: Bull and Bear Markets
Chances are, you have seen at least one of these movies: The roaring 80’s Wall Street, Leo D’s epic performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, The comic relief of Trading Places, The making of young millionaires revealed in Boiler Room, Obi-Wan Kenobi’s Ewan McGregor’s role as a stock broker in Rogue Trader, Richard Gere […]
Primary VS Secondary Markets
We all know what a market is. It is where all trade happens. It could either be a physical location or an online-based platform where buyers and sellers meet and interact to trade goods, services, instruments – anything, really – for money or exchange. At this point, you already know that stocks, too, are traded. […]
Public VS Private Companies
At some point in our lives, we’ve all been inspired by success stories. Usually, the hero of these stories start from the bottom with close to nothing – then, boom! It takes one brilliant idea, a single streak of luck or one convinced person to pave the way for success. Like our heroes, most businesses […]
The First Thing You Need to Know About Diversification
In a company, there are several departments, each with its own function. There’s the Sales Department, in charge of, well, selling. There’s the Marketing Department, tasked with branding and consumer insights. There’s the Finance Department, those responsible for the recording and analyzing the numbers. Then there’s the Operations Department, in charge of producing and storing […]
Understanding the 5 Financial Stages of Life
“I wish I was a child again, so I don’t need to worry about paying bills.” Such is the phrase of many people going through that point in life known in media as “adulting”- or being responsible enough to actually care about where your money goes. Whether we like it or not, money is inseparably […]
The Five Crucial Investment Constraints for your IPS
In the previous article I explained how important an IPS or Investment Policy Statement is in guiding investors to understand what they currently have, to identify their financial objectives, and to stay the course towards growing their money. As an investor, the IPS is a road map for your success; a means to help you […]
How the Investment Policy Statement Keeps You on Course
“I’m going to give you contracts. If you sign and honor your side of them, we are going to be successful…. Starting today you will play like winners, act like winners, and most importantly— you will be winners. If you listen and learn, you’ll win basketball games. And gentlemen, winning in here is the key […]
3 Reasons Why You Should Care About the Stock Market
It is normal to have initial reservations about stuff we are not familiar with. It’s very easy to stay in your comfort zone, especially if it works just fine and you’re satisfied in your current way of living and you don’t explore your options that much. Yes, braving into the unfamiliar can be quite daunting, […]
How the Stock Market Works
At first glance, the concept of “stock market” may seem a little intimidating to those who have no background in business or finance. But never fret, we’re here to show you what you need to know to get you started on the broad and fun world that is the stock market. To begin, let us […]
Stocks – The What, Who, When, Where, Why and How
We’re pretty sure you’ve heard the terms “stock” and “share” before. Well, aside from being a cooking ingredient or a virtue, that is. These two terms are used interchangeably and it’s important to keep this in mind to avoid confusion. As an investor, these terms are probably one of the first things you’ll hear as […]
Ability Vs. Willingness to Take Risks in Investing
Some investors are willing to take risks, but might not have the ability to do so. While other investors may have a high ability to take risks, but due to their risk aversion preference, are not willing to take high risks. An investor’s overall risk tolerance is determined by looking at both, the ability and […]
Understanding Your Risk Tolerance
Way too often, we always hear lovers say “I will risk everything for you. I will do anything for you.” in mushy love stories. But what does that mean, really? What does the person mean when he says “risk”? And does the person really mean “everything”? So many questions are running through our heads right […]
Getting to Know Investment Return
In the investing world, Warren Buffet is almost like a superhero. In 2015, he had a net worth of $66.7 billion – almost 4 times Verizon’s net income for that same year! He is also considered as one of the most successful investors in the world. One of the earliest pieces of advice he gave […]
Getting to Know Investment Risk
There is a 99.9% chance that you are on Facebook. This particular social network is quite necessary these days. We’re also pretty sure you know the owner and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. The man has some wise words for all of us: “The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s […]
Exploring Your Investment Options
A true Harry Potter fan must have shed a tear or two when Albus Dumbledore told Harry Potter “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Truly a word of the wise. Thank you, Albus! It’s the choices that we’ve made that eventually led us to where […]
6 Things You Need to Do Before Investing
Ever wondered how things get done? Like how that new home product got launched in Wal-Mart or how that new building a couple of blocks from you got built? Most things get done through projects and the process by which projects are executed is referred to as project management. Planning is a very critical part […]
Investing – What’s in It for You
Can you imagine not having to work for the rest of your life? Can you imagine having your money work for you while you just chill at the beach and have the time of your life? Can you imagine not having to imagine these things and finally make your financial dreams a reality? This Is […]