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As in all aspects of life, the proper tools for the job are essential for success. Investing is no different. To be profitable and find wealth through investing you must utilize all resources available and make educated and knowledgeable decisions. I am going to equip you with the basics through this article to get you started.

First, and most important, you must equip yourself with knowledge. There is absolutely no better place to begin than Benjamin Graham's seminal investment book entitled "The Intelligent Investor". Written in the 1950's, Benjamin Graham is the father of modern day value investing (one of the most successful and time-tested approaches to successful investing). This book is the guide for success in the stock market, and if you are serious about learning to invest properly-this is your handbook.

After blasting through Graham's book, you are ready for the next step-deciding what you are investing for. Are you investing for your future and retirement? Are you hoping to turn a quick profit? Are you just trying to find a safe place for extra cash to gain interest? If you are unsureyou need to do more research. Some wonderful locations to do this are the Motley Fool's website (www.fool.com) and Smartmoney.com (www.smartmoney.com). Both sites offer a wealth of knowledge, research options, and suggestions to get you started and to help you with your finances.

Additionally, since the topic here is "investment tools" you will find the absolute best portfolio manager on the internet at www.smartmoney.com. Trust me on this, I have tested and attempted to use a large amount of various portfolio monitoring tools available on the internet, and www.smartmoney.com is hands down the easiest to use and most powerful.

If you just want a quick answer on how to invest your moneyallow me to consolidate most of what you will learn in the following paragraph. Take the bulk of your money you want to invest for your retirement, and invest it into a ROTH IRA in an S & P 500 INDEX fund. This fund has earned 9% over its lifetime (70 years if I'm not mistaken), and offers one of the safest and easiest methods of earning the maximum amount of interest possible with very little risk. ROTH IRA's have a maximum annual investment of $4000.00, raising to $5000.00 annually in the near future. Do your best to maximize this IRA first and foremost. After you are able to max out your yearly ROTH IRA contributions, you are ready for the next stepinvesting in individual stocks.

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