How to Invest

Once you have your emergency fund, you should keep on saving. A good goal is to be putting aside at least 10% of your earnings each month (or as you can afford it if your earnings are variable). Aim for 5% to begin with and build it up. You can save up for anything you want, for example to pay for a wedding or to have enough money to invest in something specific.

It’s important to set savings goals so you know what you’re aiming for – more on how to do this later.

This app lets you choose a market environment, like a "market crash" or a "trending market" scenario, and uses historical charts to allow you to practice trading in that environment. One to check out for market timers and technical traders.

For those unfamiliar with FRED (Federal Reserve Economic Data), it's a massive repository with tens of thousands of time series for various economic datapoints. Now, you can chart 34,000 economic data series from around the world, right on your mobile device.

If you missed a big interview on CNBC, you can find it on the iPad app. The app is great for looking at real-time data, too–it features 24-hour-a-day live streaming quotes for futures and pre-market and after-hours quotes for equities.

Designed by NYU Stern valuation guru Aswath Damodaran, this app lets you do valuation modeling right on your iPad. Six models to work with–just input the numbers and go from there.

Live updating quotes on currency pairs, global stock exchanges, and key commodities, as well as an awesome feed with economic data releases around the world. The best part: you can set up the app to send you push notifications when economic data is released.

This app is definitely on the expensive side, but it's loaded with stock scans based on various price and volume indicators, and it also scans stocks based on chart patterns. For example, you can look for stock charts that are currently forming bullish or bearish engulfing patterns. The charts look pretty slick, too.

"Visual Technical Analysis." Most heat maps you see on television are based on the current trading session. With this app, you can look at heat maps based on various metrics, like which stocks are furthest away from their 50-day price average or which stocks have gained the most relative to their 52-week low.