By D.K.

1. "You can bet your house on this stock!"  <-- Wrong! No stock is ever worth your house!

2. Do not under any circumstance get into credit debt for a stock. What's the first thing the creditors will do if stock disappoints? They take your house, refer to point  #1.

3. You have a steady job? This is a good start. Take no more than 25-30% of your pay-check for investing.

4. You have saved up a decent amount of money, lets say $10,000? Do not invest more than $3,000. You'd like to have something to fall back to if something goes terribly wrong.

5. You are a millionaire? You can pay someone to tell you what to do.