I have experienced that in order to make money, I need to have to proper knowledge for it. It is very important to consider that making money is not that simple at all. This is because I have to know how to weigh the risks of investments, as there is no assurance that I will get my investment back.

After reading a number of books and attending a few seminars on wealth creation, I realized that it is important that I should be educated first about money in order to lessen the risks of losing my money and increase the chance of earning more money and retaining it. I have to consider that it is not just all about how I make money, but it is also about how to properly manage my money and my investment.

So what are the affordable ways to learn?

Firstly, there are free preview seminars that are readily available. The free preview seminars usually are meant to sell workshops that last a few days. By attending these free preview seminars, I can still learn something about investment and money management.

For example, there is a free preview on option trading. The free preview is mostly likely trying to sell me certain option trading course or workshop. But I will be able to learn something about option trading in the free preview seminar.

Secondly, I can consider getting financial books or magazines from the library. It is free and I can learn about accounting and finance and ways to effectively handle my money. Also, I am able to listen to audio books on investment and money management in the library. In addition, I can watch educational seminars on videotape or VCD in the library.

Thirdly, I can play board games such as Cashflow 101 that teaches financial knowledge. I can go to cafe that offers board games for playing to play the game with my friends. Alternatively, I can search and join any interest groups that play such board games regularly in my neighborhood.

Next, getting financially educated on the web is also an affordable way to be financially literate. There is always information on personal finance and investment. They are available especially in personal blogs as free information.

In fact, webducation is going to be the next big wave and it is threatening to shut down traditional schools. We are lucky in the sense that Internet technology is matured enough to support streaming videos. Internet technology has caused a lot of things to be available at affordable price because they remove the physical boundaries and the cost of delivery.

What this mean to me is that I am no longer restricted by distance to attend seminars. Even if a financial guru is oversea, I can still learn from him via recorded video seminars that is accessible online. Also, if I have broadband at home, I can learn at the convenience of my home 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The live seminars are recorded and put online for free access or paid subscription. These online video seminars are usually very much cheaper than live seminars as there is no reproduction cost. By comparing against recorded seminars in DVDs, online video seminars are still much cheaper because there is little or no cost involved in reproduction and delivery.

Lastly, I can search and join interest groups that focus on investments or personal finance in my neighborhood. These interest groups usually have regularly meeting to share information about investments or personal finance.

No matter how much I have learned theoretically, my knowledge will be useless if I do not put it into practice. By taking actions to practice, I will have a deeper understanding on the subject.

For example, I have started to invest in stock after learning all about stock investment such as risk management, money management and so on. By trading using real money, I will have a real taste of fear and greed coming into play to affect my investment decision. These are things that I cannot learn by reading books, listening to audio clips and watching video seminars. It is through real experience that I will gain more from my theoretical knowledge.

One thing to note is that if I am practicing what I have just learned, I will not be risking too much money. This is because I know that I will be making mistakes in my investment and personal finance as a beginner. Though learning from mistakes is a quick way to achieve financial success based, I may not be able to recover from a single mistake if I have lose a lot of money in that mistake. Thus, it is important to be patience in my practice by risking as little money as possible.

* DISCLAIMER *
The author, publisher and distributors particularly disclaim any liability, loss, or risk taken by individuals who directly or indirectly act on the information contained herein. All readers must accept full responsibility for their use of this material.

Max Ng
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/affordable-ways-to-learn-114674.html