If you were suffering from an illness and you didn't know what it was who would you look to for answers? Would you listen to your next door neighbor who is something of a hypochondriac, your brother who works as a porter at the hospital or a website that you find using Google? Hopefully you would have rejected all those options as whilst they may have an interest in helping you their level of expertise may be less than is really needed.
Personally I'd seek out someone who has the knowledge and experience to help me in the first instance.
Do your research The same should hold true when you want to invest online.
You should not rely on hearsay, rumor or speculation as these can result in you losing funds rather than increasing them.
At the end of the day any decision you make will be a personal one and you should accept that this is the case.
But before you make a decision you should do all you can to investigate the opportunity so that you feel confident in making that decision.
In the vast majority of cases this level of confidence will not be (and shouldn't be) 100%.
There are just too many variables to consider when making any decision such as this.
Just eighteen months ago you could have been highly confident making a decision to invest at your local bank, the economic crisis has destroyed even that level of confidence so investing online should raise your curiosity even more.
Clearly there are no formal bodies that you can turn to for reassurance as it is very difficult to police the world of online investments.
Companies are based in jurisdictions that provide the most favorable conditions for their operations and they often keep an arms length stance when providing information.
To some extent this is justified as they could be exposed to exploitation if details are made available.
This doesn't mean to say that you should discount all such opportunities, just ensure you do your homework beforehand.
One of the ways to do this is to find others who have the experience to help.
As the online investing matures more and more people will have a track record of experiences that you can call on.
Spread your net wide If you don't have anybody in your immediate social circle who can help then spend time on the internet to search out knowledgeable people.
Join forums and discussion groups that offer advice and help.
Ask questions and monitor the quality of the answers given.
Resist those who clearly aim to sell to you without any regard to your own situation.
Make sure you are given the full story about an opportunity, both the good and the bad.
Start small If you find an investment that you feel confident with begin with a small investment and monitor its performance closely.
Keep up to date with news by monitoring forums, blogs and discussions so that if any problems are identified you will find out quickly.
Don't rush into a decision as some problems are exaggerated and given time can be overcome.
Use common sense to guide your decision making and create a balanced portfolio to spread the risk.