If you are new to the exciting world of investing, you are probably chopping at the bit to get going. You probably watch the financial news every evening and see people all across the globe making millions of dollars on the hottest stock tips and you want a piece of the action. Before you dump your life savings into a stock tip given to you by your brother in law, it would be a good move to heed these five essential stock tips so that you don't find yourself in the poor house.

First, it is absolutely vital that you enlist the help of a full service stock broker to get started. Even if you feel that you know more than anyone else you know about investing and buying stock, you should use a broker until you have the confidence that you can do this on your own. A full service stock broker will not only help you make the right decisions when it comes to your financial future, but he or she will also act as a sounding board for you to talk to about major financial decisions that you are thinking about making. A stock broker is like having a friend on the inside; a friend who is privy to information that regular folks never get so when you get your hands on the latest and hottest stock tip, your broker is already three or four steps ahead of you.

Second, even if you choose to use a full service stock broker, you should take the time to educate yourself on everything you need to know about investing. If you feel that most of your investing is going to be in stocks and bonds, read up on the finer points of trading stocks and bonds. If you have your mind set on a particular company that you want to invest in, do as much research as you can to find out if your intuition is based in reality. Yes, having a broker means you basically have someone to do much of this work for you, but why sit on the sidelines and be a passive observer when it comes to the future of your money? Get in the game and learn what you need to know to make the money you want to make.

Third, the most important part of investing is patience, which is a hard to come by commodity in this day and age. Thanks to the Internet and the fast food style society we live in today, patience has seemingly died out with the dinosaurs. However, most investments don't pay off immediately. When you pick a company to invest in, it is a decision that will likely pay off over the long haul, not over a long weekend. Some investments lose money at first, only to end up paying off huge in a month or six months or even a year. If you are worried that you'll jump off a stock bandwagon the second it loses a penny, you might want to keep your broker's phone number off of speed dial.

Fourth, working hand in hand with patience is not being too impulsive. We all get hot stock tips that we're assured are going to be big money makers, and while there is nothing wrong with occasionally investing in one, if you switch over all of your savings every third day to take advantage of the latest stock tip, you're going to be horrible at investing. Try to keep your impulses at bay.

Finally, try not to obsess over your investments. Make a few decisions now and then, educate yourself on what's going on, but take some time to relax and enjoy life. Your investments are important but they aren't the be all and end all of existence.