Investing 101

[Fortitude]

I'm a 20 year old Canadian just starting out in the investment world. My income is in the neighborhood of 200k / year (hopefully more, we'll see how the year goes) and less than 50% of this is used for expenses. I don't have any financial responsiblities to worry about now or in the near future - I think this means I am eligible for high risk investments.

I'd like to start by putting 1-2k / month into an investment of my choosing and gradually increase that amount as I gain more knowledge and my income increases. Taking into consideration both my limited knowledge of investing and my current care-free situation, what are my best options?

[wildwood]

Read "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" by Charles MacKay. Read market history, for example, why did inflation, gold, and oil go sky high in the seventies? Why did the stock market lose 40% of it's value in the early seventies? Why did the stock market go sky high in the nineties? For this history, an excellent read is "Bull!: A History of the Boom and Bust, 1982-2004" by Maggie Mahar. Get the secular trends right, and the rest takes care of itself. "History doesn't repeat, but it rhymes" Mark Twain. All the Best.