Of course we all want to be in at the bottom of the latest, greatest stellar investment but to put all your cash into that one stock isn't investing its gambling. By following these few simple guidelines you can ease your mind and sleep soundly at night without fretting about your portfolio. Maybe you won't have quite so many massive winners but you will certainly enjoy safe investing. You see both the banks and the loan companies understand that from time to time anyone can fall on hard times. That's especially true with the current economic situation. What they really want to be certain of is if they help you fix the problem you will be able to pay the money back to them. Before you apply for a loan for debt consolidation you need to sit down and figure what you're going to say to them. A second aspect needs to address whether you will make regular set payments or if you're just planning to put in lumps of cash whenever you can afford it. It's usually a better idea to start by saving regular monthly amounts as it gets you into the rhythm of saving and pretty soon you will find that you don't really notice the amounts going out each month. These maybe considered the tortoises of the investment race but remember slow and steady over many years will soon mount up. The second way to approach the market is with a view that you are young enough to gamble a little on the hares of investing. If these go wrong you will still have the time to recover and rebuild your portfolio. And what happens when you forget your monthly credit payments? Those nice friendly guys at the loan company who wanted to increase your credit card limit only last month now turn into Don Corleone and the boys from Mob! They start to slap on late charges and the exorbitant interest now starts to attract interest on itself and, and Well you get the picture. Of course there is always the option of using online brokerages which usually require only around $500 to get started. These can be an excellent alternative for anyone who has the confidence to make their own investment decisions. Something which does need considering is the question of charges. This applies whichever type of broker and whatever method is used for that very first investment.