If you are interested in investing in the stock market, but are afraid of losing your shirt then starting an investment club may be the way to go. With an investment club, a group of people will give a specified amount of money each month to invest in the stock market. This alleviates a lot of the worry about losing a large amount of money. It is also a good learning process for everyone involved in the club. You know the old saying that "two heads are better than one." If you have 15 or 20 heads, you can learn about stocks a lot faster! This article will give you some good tips on how to start an investment club.

The very first thing to do is to get the word out. Ask around at work and ask other friends or family members if they would be interested in joining. Pick your people wisely. You want people that are dependable and that can afford to invest a specified monthly amount. The people in your club should have an interest in watching the stock market and learning all they can about it. If you pick people that have no interest in stocks, you may find yourself having to do all the research yourself.

After your club members are chosen, have a meeting and determine what everyone's goals are. Each member should have the same goals as to how they want their investments to grow. They should also be able to agree on how much to invest each month. This does not have to start out as the highest amount possible. If everyone in the club is a novice, it is probably a better idea to start the investment amount low until everyone gets some experience under their belts and then you can raise the amount.  Always make sure that the monthly investment amounts are not going to cause any financial hardship for anyone in the club.

Next, appoint roles for members of the group. You will need someone to act as president of the club, you need a treasurer, secretary and a vice president. These should be voted in positions that are set for a limited amount of time, perhaps a year.

The next step is to write up an operating agreement for your club. Do an online search of sample partnership agreements to assist you in writing your own.  Pick a good name for your club to operate under. It is easiest to operate as a limited partnership for tax filing purposes. The schedule K that needs to be attached to your tax statement can be prepared by a single CPA and distributed to the whole group.

Then assign someone to find a broker. Discount brokers will do because the decision on where to invest your money should come from the club members and not a high priced brokerage firm. Gather all the educational materials you can find on investments and go over these at your meetings to help make informed decisions.

These are just a few tips on how to start an investment club. Just remember, starting an investment club should be fun and profitable!