Free course · Investing · Beginner
Mise en Place for Money: A Beginner Portfolio Course
Cooks set out every ingredient before the pan gets hot. A beginner portfolio course built the same way has your savings sorted, your core chosen and your caps and sell rules written before the first order goes in.
Who it is for
Savers who have money in the bank and no portfolio yet, and want the plan settled before they buy a first fund or stock.
By the end you can
- Split your savings into an emergency fund, near-term cash and money you can invest for years
- Build a core of broad, low-cost funds with a smaller satellite of stocks you pick yourself
- Set a weight cap for single stocks and spot when a winner has grown past it
- Rebalance back to a target mix and write sell rules before you need them
The lessons
- 01 Investment Goals and Time Horizon, Set Before the First Buy
Set investment goals and a time horizon for each pile of savings: an emergency fund, cash for near-term plans, and what is left to invest for the long run.
About 12 minutes, with a quiz at the end
- 02 The Core and Satellite Portfolio: Funds First, Stocks Second
How a core and satellite portfolio works: a broad, low-cost fund holds most of the money and a smaller slice goes to single stocks you choose yourself.
About 13 minutes, with a quiz at the end
- 03 Position Sizing for Investors: Setting a Weight Cap
Position sizing for investors starts with a weight cap: the most any single stock may be of your portfolio, and what to do when a winner grows past it.
About 12 minutes, with a quiz at the end
- 04 Rebalancing Rules and Sell Rules for a First Portfolio
Rebalancing rules bring a first portfolio back to its target mix; sell rules say when a stock goes. Both are written before prices give you a reason to panic.
About 13 minutes, with a quiz at the end
The usual first question is which stock to buy. It comes about fourth in the order that works. Before any ticker matters you need to know how much of your savings can sit in the market for years, what the bulk of it goes into, how big any one holding may get, and what makes you sell. Settle those while nothing is at stake. The first purchase is then the easy part.
Who it suits
It’s for someone with savings in the bank and no portfolio yet. Maybe you’ve opened a brokerage account and stared at the order screen. Maybe you haven’t opened one at all. Either works. You don’t need to know how to value a company, read a 10-Q or chart a stock, because none of the lessons ask you to, and the arithmetic stays at the level of percentages and a calculator.
What to have ready
Start with your monthly budget, or at least an honest total of what you spend in a month on rent, food, transport, insurance and the rest. The emergency fund is sized from it. Guess, and the whole plan is a guess. Then pull every statement you have, checking, savings, any old workplace retirement plan and anything already invested, and set the balances side by side so you can see the whole of what you own before you decide what any of it is for.
A notebook or a spreadsheet helps too. Each lesson ends with a decision you write down, and by the end those notes add up to a written plan you can check your portfolio against every year.
How to work through it
Take the lessons in order. Each one uses the numbers from the one before, following a single hypothetical saver from a pile of cash to a portfolio with rules attached, so skipping ahead leaves you with sums that refer to figures you haven’t seen. Do the working with your own numbers alongside the example ones. Some lessons link a tool, such as the position concentration calculator. Run your own figures through it.
The quiz at the end of each lesson is short. Treat a wrong answer as a pointer back to the section that covers it.
What it leaves out
Account types get a mention and no more. Whether your money belongs in a taxable brokerage account or a tax-advantaged retirement account is a decision with its own rules, set by the IRS and by your plan, and it deserves more room than a beginner course can give it. Situations differ, so check the account rules before you move money.
Stock analysis is also left out. The satellite of stocks gets sized and capped. Picking what goes in it is a separate skill.
Where to go after
If the stock slice interests you most, What’s It Actually Worth? teaches valuation from multiples up to a discounted cash flow model, and the argument for a sell rule makes the case that a first portfolio needs its exit written down before its tenth holding. And when your plan is on paper, Build It, Then Break It lets you put an allocation through hypothetical bad years to see which of your rules hold. For the steps in one sitting, see building a portfolio with little money.
People also ask
How much money do I need before I start investing?
There is no fixed minimum. What matters is the order: an emergency fund first, then cash set aside for anything due in the next few years, and only then money for the market. Many funds and brokers allow small or fractional purchases, so the amount left over can be modest.
Should a beginner buy individual stocks or funds?
A broad, low-cost fund makes a sensible base because it does not depend on picking winners. Individual stocks can sit around it in a smaller slice, with a cap on each one, so a single bad pick dents the portfolio without sinking it.