Introduction When prospective investors ask in forums how to start investing, they often get a response as if they should first discover the true purpose of their life and get a degree in finance. Things like, before you start you have to know what you want to achieve in the end, what is your risk tolerance, and know about all types of investing, their pros, cons, and taxation nuances. To be hit with those questions right at the start is, in my opinion, overwhelming, not helpful, and could result in instant surrender. It is all coming from a good place, if not from a desire to grandstand, but for many people it is better to just start with something. Put an amount of money, they find insignificant enough, somewhere and see what happens. This is one of the reasons I would like to share my personal story of investing, failing, giving up, getting back up, deviating from plan, making new plans, trying new strategies, succeeding at times, etc. After a while, most of us know what the bo...