Another advantage of a secured personal loan is that they're much easier to get than unsecured loans. After all, collateral serves as a guarantee that lender will be getting their money back… that makes them more willing to offer loans to people with questionable credit. Should you default on loan, they still won't lose money that they lend you (though they will have to go through trouble and expense of possessing collateral and selling it.)

The main disadvantage of a secured personal loan is penalty for defaulting on loan… losing your collateral. In some cases this isn't as bad as others… after all, it's much better to lose some rare coins than it is to lose your house. With fast and consistent repayment, however, this drawback can be easily avoided. The fear of losing your collateral can even be turned into an advantage after all, you have a wonderful reason to make all of your payments on time.

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It is also important to evaluate firms history, how stable it is, etc. because if firm goes out of business chances are you might not be able to recover your money.

A good place to start figuring out what questions to ask of your broker is U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission homepage, they have a detailed page that outlines very good questions to ask. You could also check library for other investing resources. Make sure to take notes when you ask your questions and write down answers that you received, this shows broker that you are a serious investor.

It's important to consider that, as a beginner in investment world, you are sure to make mistakes. Everyone does, but its your ability to learn from these mistakes that will give you experience necessary to carry on and improve your results. The only logical way to learn from your mistakes is to write down everything you do, and evaluate it thoroughly. This way you will be able to acknowledge what mistakes you make, and help you avoid repeating them.

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