The best source to do the research is definitely the Internet, where you get information not only from the websites of the financial institutions that provide the CD products but also from the various blogs and forums where people discuss about CDs and which of them are the best. Since these are real user comments, they could be very helpful for you in deciding the best CD products. And it's not just the monthly savings that are appealing. The overall cost can be very substantial too. Of course you need to check the figures for yourself don't go making assumptions as everyone is different. You need to calculate how much paying your credit cards off at the minimum rate will cost you. This applies whichever type of broker and whatever method is used for that very first investment. Many new investors wrongly assume that all their money will go directly into buying the investment they have chosen and forget that there are different prices for buying and selling stocks. This can be quite a surprise to some but they should remember that even mutual funds have annual charges. If for example you prefer to learn by watching you could invest in DVDs in preference to buying a book. One way which is becoming increasingly popular is to learn by attending seminars. These allow you to raise questions and get them answered by experts. Something that obviously just isn't possible from reading books, watching DVDs or listening to audio CDs. You simply let the bill consolidation service contact your creditors and agree lower monthly or weekly repayments on your behalf. Now I guess at this point you're thinking hey, I could do that myself. Well, yes, you could and you may succeed. But I'll wager that a credit counselling service can do the job better. However from a stock market point of view let's look at what safe means to new investors. While investing in stocks and shares will always carry a certain amount of risk especially over the short term it is possible to minimize that risk. Safe investing is really just a matter of following some common sense guidelines when it comes to that risk.