What Risks Are involved With Stocks?

Video Transcript

"My name is Bill Rae. I'm with Alumni Financial Services. I've been in the business and finance world for well over 20 years. The question you have is what are the risks involved in stocks. Well first of all, let me tell you I'm not here to give stock advice or to solicit stock sale. Risk is an interesting word. What does risk mean to you? Risk to me means how much control you're willing to give up. With that being said, what are the risks in the stocks? Well like any type of investment, you could lose everything if you don't what you're doing. You need to talk with a licensed professional if you're going to get involved and you don't really have a good understanding. Today technology will actually allow you to go online, open a stock account online, buy and sell without talking to anyone and if you're competent and you understand the language and you have experience, then by all means feel free. If you have no experience, make sure you do your homework. There's plenty of information out there and plenty of people willing to sit down and talk with you before you put out your hard earned money. The level of risk with stocks can vary but there is the risk always of losing your principal. However when you look at the stock market, you begin to understand what's going on you will see that there are levels of risk that are comfortable for most folks. And then there are risks that like going to Las Vegas if you will where you can lay your money down in hopes of hitting the big one. Those are speculatives. Those can be startup companies. There's many different ways that a stock can become a risky stocks and there are many companies out there that track all this data that can help you determine whether the stock you're looking at would be considered a safe growth or a risky one. But again, my advice to you is speak to a licensed professional, do your homework, do some research, it will be well worth it. And as always understand any agreement or contract you're about to sign. Know what's expected of you, you should know what the costs are and you should know how and when you can get your money back and within reason what you should expect return on your money. My name is Bill Rae, I'm with Alumni Financial Services and as always, we're here to help you build wealth."