The purpose of this book is to provide individual investors who have as little as $1,000 to invest with the information necessary to earn a high return from investing in the stock market. Playing “the game” intelligently, as outlined in this book, will allow the small investor to earn a return better than most professional investors. Although the theories behind investment can be very complicated, the individual investor does not need to understand these theories in order to outperform the so-called experts. This book will show the reader the steps necessary to become a savvy investor and beat the pros. The good news is you can be a savvy investor and spend only a few minutes each year on your investment portfolio. It sounds almost too good to be true, but it is. One of the most important things successful investors can do is concentrate on the variables they can control and not worry about the variables they cannot control. When constructing a stock portfolio, the two variables an individual investor can control are the costs associated with any investment and the risk related to an individual’s portfolio. Adjusting these two elements in an intelligent way can have a dramatic impact on the return earned from one’s investments, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of extra dollars to the investor’s investment account.