It used to be that you had to pick up the phone and call your stock broker in order to buy or sell stock. Depending on the type of account you had, he might even make recommendations that you could consider if you liked. How things have changed since then.

You can still have that kind of account and you can still have a real stock broker if you like that is in charge of your account. However, with the Internet so prevalent now, very few people buy stock this way. Now all they do is log on to their account, press a few buttons, and the purchase or sale is made. It almost seems to easy.

If you want to get started in the stock market for the first time, one thing you are going to have to do is to learn how to buy stocks online. It won't be very hard for anyone with some computer experience as you will have to open an account, create a user name and password, and then supply your personall information such as name, address, and social security number. This will be pretty much the same stuff as you will encounter for opening any account online.

The Social Security number will be required to open a stock account and there is just no way around it. This is because the stock broker company will be required by law to report your purchases and sales to the IRS so that they can make sure you pay your taxes.

One of the nice things about trading stocks online is that you can do it through a discount stock broker and save money from the old way. The price for trading stock went way down the minute the stock broker companies got online to offer their survices. This is because they don't have to pay anything to a person to talk to you and now buying and selling stock is all automated. Also, it is easy to learn how to buy stocks for beginners now that it can all be done from your computer without ever having to talk to anyone. If you are interested is some of the top online discount stock brokers here is a list of some of the bigger names:

E*Trade
Scott Trade
Charles Schwab
TD Ameritrade
FirstTrade
TradeKing
Fidelity
Ameriprise Financial
Zecco
OptionsXpress

If you think of the stock market as a complicated place where it is too confusing to ever get involved, maybe you should take a second look. I'm sure you can find a book called "Stock Market For Dummies" on the bookshelves and you can learn that way. There is no doubt that it will take some time to learn all the ins and outs of the market and you won't feel comfortable right away. But remember, it is just like anything else that you are unfamiliar with. The more you participate and study the market and all the language that goes with it, the more you will learn and before long you will feel right at home.

The stock market should be for long term investing only and you should never put any money in that you may need soon. We have all seen the bottom fall out from under stocks in the last couple of years and this is the reason why only long term money should be put in. If you need or might need your money soon, you should steer clear of the stock market and look for the best CD rates instead. That way, you will not put any of your money at risk and you can sleep better at night.