I did a lot of research on it before i even dabbled in it. Of course if someone just puts some money into something with no idea of what they're doing first, it's not a good idea. But if you learn about it first it helps because then you can navigate a lot better.
I think a good option for investment, for starters, if a person has the option, is through their employer. If you can get into an Employer Stock Purchase Plan, or ESPP, I highly recommend it. You take a percentage or set dollar amount out of each paycheck and the funds are used to purchase company stock, usually twice a year. The purchase price is usually at the lowest price the stock was trading at during the period, so as the stock price increases the value of your stock goes up. The great part is if you need some cash, just sell some of your stock. You pay tax on your gains in the stock price. If you want, you can sell the company stock and buy stock in another company.
Same thing with a 401k plan. Many companies with match your employee deduction up to a certain percentage. You should definitely take advantage of this because it doubles the amount you save. You have options as to how you can allocate your funds.
The main point is to start as soon as possible and don't stop. You don't have to stop with investments through your employer either, but at least have some sort investment or savings going on somewhere.
And even when things like 2008 happen if you had kept your money in, you would've gained more than that back by now. Over a long enough time line you WILL make money.
The stock market isn't as much of a "casino" as some people make it out to be. Even if it were, i still find it interesting that so many people spend years playing the lottery faithfully in hopes that they will hit the jackpot, and never do, yet are reluctant to invest in anything else, because they are "afraid" that they will lose any money