I Want To Create A Portfolio ... What Stocks Should I Purchase?

I'm a Fedex Express Courier and I'm interested in purchasing stocks, Bonds or whatever is needed to enhance the future of my family. I currently participate in a 401k plan but want some other ideas to get started. Any help in deciding what to do is greatly appreciated.

Thanks and thumbs up to all who reply! Just give me time to get back and read the answers.
...............................................................................
Keep investing in your 401K, but make sure you are in stable value bond funds.
The market may go down another 15 to 20%.
Some people tolerate that - I'm not one of them.
I would wait till economic numbers get better.

No need to invest in a ROTH at this time.
If you have a mortgage, invest in your home.
Pay off as much as you can.
By paying off your house, your kids can almost get a free ride to college - since financial aid does not look at asset amounts.
After you pay off your mortgage (a good investment for your retirement), then you can invest in a ROTH or deductible IRA.
Too many people out there are telling you to do the ROTH, when you have a mortgage.
I clearly know this is the wrong thing to do.
No greater investment in the world than a paid off home for life.......
...............................................................................
Okay, how old are you at this point, and how much does your company match? One thing that is coming in at this point is called a Roth 401k, which incorporates the company matching from a traditional 401k, but also allows you to put in taxed money, which will grow without a tax liability(which is awesome!). If you want to move into something like a Roth IRA, set up an account with an online trading company(TD Ameritrade is one that I use), and take a look at the screening section. I'm a big fan of ETF's(Exchange traded funds). They basically are comprised of a set of companies with a common goal or theme, they function like a fixed mutual fund, but have lower maintenance fees, and give you diversification for the price of one trade. If you're under 30 I would recommend 80-90% stocks, 10-20% municipal bonds(can get these in an ETF form as well, Muni bonds are great because you get good dividends as well as the div's being tax exempt).

Last point: make sure you sign up for DRIP(as long as its free, with TD Ameritrade it is), which is a Dividend Reinvestment Plan, this way they just roll your Dividends back into those companies without paying a trade commission.

Happy trading!
...............................................................................
http://whit.me/StocksRobot

Before you start investing, check that site out.
We all heard of "Forex RoBot" which automatically executes decision intelligently to make gains... that site features a Stock Market RoBot! It intelligently predicts the stock movement's potential!
To make lots of money you got to spend some money. That is the official website that helped me start making thousands recently. It was featured in Forbes magazine before - it is damn good. Many people praised the Robot and wrote testimonials.

Especially with the current economic crisis, imagine how much you can make once it hits the bull market!

This is how it works:
Every monday morning before the stock market opens, they will e-mail you the hottest penny stock that will have the highest potential to reach new heights.

P.S: Please use firefox browser to visit the website as the website is only optimized for Firefox. If not, you will experience problems viewing the contents.
...............................................................................
I like your motivation. Try investing in some blue chip stocks like XOM and maybe GE (not too too much of GE). - check them out here:
http://www.alpha-investing.com/id5.html

Also look into ORCL and GILD. Also, here:
http://www.alpha-investing.com/id1.html