Coming Soon!  Look for my new book Exchange Traded Funds Investing For Beginners – How To Buy Your First ETF And Grow Your Money.  Below is a free sample chapter and preview for you.

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An ETF is a special type of fund.  So to understand them, we’ll look at funds in general, which have been around for a long time.

The oldest fund was probably created by Dutch merchant Adriaan van Ketwich in Amsterdam, in 1774.  And later, in 1924, the first mutual fund was launched in Boston in the U.S.

So funds have been around for some time.  But exchange traded funds are a much more recent product.  The first one, the Bloomberg Barclays TIPS (NYSE:TIP) fund began trading in 1996.

Since then, Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have become one of the most popular investment types for both professional and individual investors.

They are often promoted as better and cheaper than mutual funds as they offer low-cost diversification, trading, and other advantages for investors.

With billions of dollars invested in them, and many new ones created each year, they have become so popular that some brokerages even offer free trading to their customers in a limited number of them.

So we’ll look at funds, and then how exchange traded funds got started.    And finally we’ll examine the “exchange traded” part of the name.  It sounds a bit complicated but it’s really not.

So what is a fund, anyway?

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So that’s the preview.  The book will be released in just a couple of months.  In the meantime, you might be interested in my book Stock Investing for Beginners – How To Buy Your First Stock And Grow Your Money.  It’s been well received, with over 2000 5-Star reader reviews.

Here’s what one reader had to say…

5.0 out of 5 stars I FINALLY understand stocks!!

Verified Purchase

This book is a work of genius!!! I tried to get into stocks years ago and none of the references for beginners I came across made any sense, so I gave up. I decided to give it another try and some references captured the very basics like “what is a stock?” “why is investing important?” but after that sent me for a loop again.

I decided not to give up again and that’s what led me to this book.  John Roberts simplifies EVERYTHING! He puts in a relative perspective so you can understand it better. Like saying an exchange is basically an auction. He relates something unfamiliar to something familiar so you can grasp it better. It helps a lot to be put this way.

And I love that he centers the book solely on stocks. Other references start throwing in bonds and funds when you barely understood stocks to begin with, making you twice as confused.

I also love that he reiterates some important points because sometimes I’ll forget something and wind up going back and try to read it again, but he brings up the points again to make it easier to stick. And being new to the stock market I need that reminder.

Upon reading this book, I was finally able to get a stockbroker account and begin investing with confidence. Something I never thought I could do. I can’t wait to read his other books!” – I. Espinosa

Many thanks for their good review, and if it piqued your interest, you can view Stock Investing For Beginners for free right here.

All the best – John Roberts