From watching literally thousands of men I can tell you there are a few commonalities……especially in the expat community in the Asia-Pacific.

Men who pick wisely in terms of marriage partners, tend to be wealthier.

“Behind every great man there is an even greater woman”. Sounds old-fashioned but is still often the case today.

Conversely, those who spend too much time chasing money when they are single, and having multiple divorces later on, often lose long-term.

I have often spoken about the importance of spending habits on these answers, and not just income.

However, what is the emotional reason behind over-spending? There are many, but for some men, spending money on impressing women is a huge thing.

The best clothes, suits or whatever. Go to any flash nightclub, almost anywhere in the world.

What do you see outside? Scenes like this:

The most effective way to find investment ideas is to start with your goals, needs, experience, and expectations.

Why have you chosen stocks as an investment instrument? Retirement? Saving for college? Or Making Monthly Income from Trading as a Business?

How much Capital aka Savings do you have to start the above goals?

What is or was your occupation, job experience? In other words: what industry or business do you have personal and professional knowledge and experience?

How much time can you devote a month or week to your goals?

What is your experience level with investments of any kind? Investing covers not just stocks and bonds, but annuities, real estate, hobbies such as coin collections, commodities such as gold or oil, Do you ownership of a small business, part ownership in a private company, are all investing instruments.

What instruments for investing are you most familiar with either from a family member or friend who has invested?

Do you see yourself as someone who likes to buy something for the long term future or someone who enjoys short term investment opportunities?

What is your Risk Tolerance? Are you risk averse? Or are you fond of gambling, Or do you Analyze and calculate risk and base decisions on that information? Are you impulsive, or are you a thinker, deliberate and have decisions considered before you do something?

Do you trust yourself to make prudent good decisions, OR do you prefer to let someone else make decisions for you, especially in big ticket item purchases such as a home, car, or other big purchase? Do you let a sales man talk you into something or do you decide for yourself?

Do you enjoy learning something new every day?

The above questions may seem irrelevant to your question, however once you answer them, you have a strong strategy and direction in which to move to find excellent stocks for YOU rather than depending upon recommendations or guru commentary or investing ideas.

Example: stock investing or trading is all about understanding the business behind that stock. If you focus on industries that you are very familiar with then you will find it easier to select stocks.

Example: The stock market is a plethora of investing opportunities, instruments, and covers all types of investing possible. You can invest in ETFs which are exchange traded funds, or ETCs, exchange traded currencies, or REITS which is an investment in real estate that trades just like a stock.

If you prefer to have others advise you and tell you what to buy, then go to a credentialed Certified Financial Advisor CFA for advice.

To be successful making a living from stocks, you need to be fascinated by learning something new every day as the market continually evolves with new opportunities. Trading as a Business is recognized by the SEC and by the IRS and many traders start out as retail (not day trading) and learn and study and can become a professional Elite Trader or Accredited Investor when they reach a level of knowledge, experience and expertise that generates income most people would envy. But it takes an education and experience. It is not a weekend seminar plunking down a few thousand dollars and magically the guy behind the curtain waves a wand and you are instantly transformed into a pro trader. It takes work and time.

Risk Tolerance is an evaluation of your comfort zone when buying an investment. If your risk tolerance is adverse, then avoid penny stocks, cheap stocks, low liquidity stocks, and private listed companies and new IPOs. Risk is higher for all of those categories of stocks.

There is no one stock that fits everyone. There are over 5000 listed companies and more coming to market every day. There is the new private companies that are now being listed, and there more and more derivatives being developed. You don’t have to buy gold, you can buy an ETC that is based on gold and this is FAR LESS RISK that buying gold bullion.

Your Capital Base is critical to what you can invest in. You will need to have more than just one stock, so you will need to divide your capital among a sufficient number of stocks so that you do not have all your money in just one investment which is very risky investing.

I know this sounds like a ton of work, but if you start with the 10 questions, write down your answers, and then study what all of the answers combined are telling you, you have a custom made investment or trading strategy for YOU.