Understand the Stock Market: Trade Stocks, ETFs Mutual Funds

Patricia Saylor is the founder of Saylor Financial Fundamentals, and author of The Novice Investor's Guide to Stocks, Funds and Options. making stock market investing accessible for novice investors.  She is also the Head of School at Solterra Way Cottage School, providing educational assessments and academic support to private students. 

Patricia is a lifetime educator. After her retirement from a 30-year career as a public school teacher and administrator, she grew both of her small businesses from side hustles to main gigs.

She has an MA in Linguistics from Gallaudet University and a BA in Spanish and Education from UNC-Chapel Hill.  She is conversant in Spanish and fluent in American Sign Language.

From Patricia:

Unlike most financial educators, I was a teacher before I became an investor.  I measure my own success by the achievements of my students, and I'm highly invested in their success!

I spent much of my career in public education in North Carolina, while running Solterra Way Cottage School on the side. I raised two Deaf children adopted as preschoolers, as well as a home-grown son and a stepson. I was the kind of mom who learned to sew so I could make my own cloth diapers.

In 2010, to boost my retirement savings, I began a self-teaching journey about stock market investing. Every article I read assumed background knowledge I didn’t have, and was full of words I didn’t understand.  I taught myself what I needed to know, but it took me a long time to filter the relevant information.  I knew I could make this process easier for other novice investors.

In 2016 I taught myself to trade stock options. Options can be very risky when used recklessly, and I prefer conservative strategies to boost my returns. I set up an account with a promo code and three months of commission-free trades.  My goal was to get an education and earn $300 from my $5000 investment before the trading commissions kicked in. I spent about 100 hours reading and trading, and at the end of 3 months, I had earned $297!  It's only gotten better since then.

Since I like to teach other people what I know, developing The Novice Investors program, including online classes and an ebook, was a natural next step after I retired.  I really love hearing how my content has benefitted my students, so I hope you'll let me know what you think after you check it out.