First time investor - I don't know where to start

[lostinfinance]

Hi All,

I am looking for ideas to invest some money. I have zero knowledge about trust fonds, bonds, stocks, etc, I have been going through many forums to try understand how this works, but there is so much information that it’s a bit overwhelming.

To give you an idea of my current situation. I’m a European citizen based in South East Asia in an expatriate position. Some details:

•   I’m in my mid-30s, and work for a French company.  My work contract is based in France. I declare my income in France.
•   I have about 80K euros savings in a French Bank Account.
•   Monthly income surplus:  1500 – 2000 euros per month.
•   I get a bonus once a year of about 15-20K after tax. This means that I am saving 35-40K euros per year.
•   One mortgage. Still 18 ½ years to go, the rate is very low (2.3%) so I don’t want to put my savings here.
•   I have the public french retirement plan (not much), and a small retirement plan set by my company (I put 390 euros per month, and they match it).

Since I arrived to Asia, many financial advisors have contacted me (Devere, Globaleye, Farringdon,etc). I met with one guy from Globaleye and he proposed the Quantum RL360. After reading the following link here, I realized it was a very bad idea so I rejected it.

http://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/investor-alley/i-dun-goofed/

Now, I am back to square one and to be honest, I don’t even know where to start.  I would like some ideas on how to invest part of my savings, but also set up a retirement plan. I also would like to set an education saving plan for my son (1 year old).

Could you please give me some pointers?

[wienerdog]

http://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/

http://www.madfientist.com/archives/

http://paulmerriman.com/how-to-invest-series-complimentary-download/

http://paulmerriman.com/videos/

That should get you going. 

[seanmerron]

Do you know what markets you're looking to invest in? I'd love to help and using a well diversified index fund portfolio is a great way to start.

I can give you more info to get going. But first, is opening an a Vanguard brokerage account an option for you based on your locale?

[Heckler]

I can't help with your international problem, but this is my go to site for how to start.  Since every blogger is just an opinion, youve got to pick one and go with it.

https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Getting_started

[lostinfinance]

@ wienerdog & Heckler: Thanks for the information, I will have a look at those links.

@ seanmerron:  Thanks!  to be honest, no idea...  How can I find out about that? As I said before, I don't know anything about markets.  This is all new to me.
I am going to meet with a couple of advisors this week. Let's see what they proposed.

[Tom Bri]

Go to the Vanguard website and look around. See what they have to offer for international people. I found it fairly simple to set up my account there recently.

Also, you will need to look into French law (I presume French) to see if they allow it.