If you are a first time investor, all these financial and investing terms can be intimidating. If you don't understand what they mean, you can't understand what you are getting into. Maybe you've done a little research and reading and you've settled on two basic investment ideas, stocks and mutual funds. Which should you choose?

First of all, you must understand that mutual funds are separate securities like stocks and bonds. A mutual fund is a collection of stocks and/ or bonds or other securities. With stocks, you decide you want to buy a few shares and then you are a shareholder in that company. With mutual funds, you buy a few shares of a mutual fund and own stocks and bonds of many different companies.

If you are a complete beginner to investing and you are only looking to invest to earn more on your money, you are probably looking for something easy. Investing in stocks isn't necessarily easy. It actually takes a lot of work. If you really want to make good money from investing in stocks, you have to put in the time. First, you have to learn about stock investing. This takes a lot of reading and studying to develop a strategy. You will also have to research companies well before buying their stock to ensure you are making a good investment.

If you have a passion for stocks, I say go for it. If you know what you are doing, you can make a lot of money. Just make sure you put in the time and effort. Do your research and you could possible earn more than the average. Also keep in mind that sometimes your stocks will go down. It is not because you're bad at choosing stocks or because you didn't research enough, it is because no stocks are predictable.

If you are a beginner, you don't have a passion for stocks, and you just wanted to earn the highest consistent return you can, I suggest investing in mutual funds. All you have to do is find a fund that you like and let the money manager take care of the rest. Keep an eye on it and compare it to other funds often to make sure you made a good choice, but overall, this is the easiest way to go.

Whatever type of investment you choose, make sure you invest. It is an incredibly rewarding step to take. You might not be too excited now, but when you have wealth somewhere down the road, you will be happy you did.