You are only ready to speculate when…
- You have an emergency fund of atleast 3 months worth of expenses set aside in a bank account that you will not touch
- You have a steady income that exceeds your expenses
- You are fully contributing to your company 401k plan or 403b or have fully funded your IRA
- You have sat down and developed a investment plan
- You have backtested your trading strategy and have reasonable expectations
- You are mentally prepared to lose some of your money
- You have saved enough surplus funds to begin investing
