Surprisingly, or maybe not, I rarely see anyone blog about major investments. Granted, no one wants to divulge personal info. But a big part of saving to financial security is investing.

One of my first forays into stocks was through my companies options. Coming from the pure halls of academia, I was a bit insulted that a company would think stock options would ever glue me to the corporation. After all, options were just the right to spend money on the company, and by the time you changed tax structures and paid capital gains, it seemed more like a loss than an investment.

But, after assuring myself that the company understood I was above such games, I accepted the options. At $5 a share, didn't seem like much. Picked up a few more at $15 a share, again, 3000 options just meant I'd need $45K to purchase them.

Five years later, the stock had split twice, and sky rocketed to $82.94 a share. My $5 and $15 options, split down, presented a new challenge of purchasing before they expired but at the proper rate to maximize the return and minimize the taxes. It was an intriguing game, and very worth while.

These days I'm looking at flipping a short term CD that's coming to term into a more profitable investment, maximizing my portfolio, following different markets and developing strategies. Can't believe how far I've come.

It all started with those first stock options.

Everyone starts some where. Small investments, low risk, whatever it is, take what comes and work with it. You might be pleasantly surprised.