The United States Securities and Exchange Commission released their Study Regarding Financial Literacy Among Investors in the United States that was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. (See www.sec.gov for the full report dated August 2012.)The results are very discouraging as the overall message portends more difficulty for future retirees in achieving even marginal financial success.Studies from within the report reveal that “investors have very little basic financial literacy, a poor understanding of elementary financial concepts and lack critical knowledge of ways to avoid investment fraud. Investment knowledge gaps was greater among subgroups: women, African-Americans, Hispanics, the elderly and those with poor formal education”.Ah, wait! Readers, don’t turn the page, or tune out the message after the above paragraph title, because you think the focus is on United States Investors. Why not? You guessed it — financial literacy in Bermuda is regrettably poor indeed, further compounded due to far fewer research resources available and our complex investing environment.Even so, how could I possibly make such a condescending comment about the Bermuda investor’s intellectual capacity?Simple! They have told me personally they just don’t get it! When so many intelligent individuals over the years have not hesitated to convey their frustration to you that they have no idea what is in their pension, so they just pick a pie chart.Or, they are certain that an 8% stock dividend is guaranteed just like a term deposit and are appalled when it defaults. They can’t figure out the investment information provided, if any, which then makes them feel stupid, which they most certainly are not. Most troubling are the personal statements made to me that when investment market results are bad, they are so disgusted they sell the whole lot (or abruptly change their pension allocations) taking a loss, and their future financial success with the impetuous decision.It is never too late, however, and “you get to try again tomorrow”, as my brother Freddy James always said.It is time for investors to take remedial action.Twelve years ago, Moneywise ran a recurring series of articles on selecting securities, and allocating an investment portfolio that would build interactive investor knowledge and financial confidence. In 2000, this was a deliberate demonstration of the hypermania surrounding the tech stock boom (and the horrible bust for some poor souls who thought an 80% return was sustainable). Then, the interactive web tools were more limited, more obtuse, and often too expensive for the small investor. Today, there are millions of sites, some good, some just awful, and others so generic that they impede rather than succeed. This is a perfect time to try again — we will use the best sites available for free.I will jump start the allocation with a few stocks, then add to the composition bit by bit, hopefully, with reader contributed selections as well. I encourage you to send your ideas to me via e-mail, or input directly to the comment section below the RG article today.We will review each stock’s profile, company performance, profitability, suitability, risk of loss, industry and many other criteria. We will build the portfolio and our knowledge, security by security, piece by piece, dividend by dividend.Here they are — hint, type the stock symbols into Google to find the name of the company. AMZN, CHL, GE, NVS, WMT, XOMWe will “pretend” buy 100 shares of each selection at the marketAmbitious readers can try setting up the starter portfolio for free in Seeking Alpha www.seekingalpha.com or Yahoo!finance www.finance.yahoo.comFor those very interested, here is your fun investing homework assignment. Answer any or none of the four questions:1.Why did I pick these stocks?2. What stocks would you pick to go with them (or instead of them) and why?3. Do they pay a dividend? And if not, why not?4. What does at the market mean?Don’t be shy, use an anonymous name and post your responses. No answer is wrong and you won’t be graded on your choices.My mission statement to you, readers, is that I will pursue a multiyear intensive effort utilising various media, both print, electronic, and presentable to help you learn the basics of investing and portfolio asset allocation as they exist in the Bermuda investment environment. You must, must take charge of your personal finances.Next Learn to invest article, October 06, 2012. See you then.Martha Myron, CPA CFP(US) TEP, is Director of International Tax Services and a cross border financial planning specialist at Patterson Partners Ltd, 26 Victoria St, Hamilton, Bermuda, and a member of the American Citizens Abroad Professional Tax Advisory Council. www.americansabroad.org Contact mmyron@patterson-partners.com or 1 441 296 3528