Yes if you're not careful you can lose more money than you invest in stocks.
You need to watch the stock market and study up on the stock market so that you know when to either invest in the stock market stock or when to get out.
Sometimes it's best to cash out of the stock market investment you invested in if it's gonna crash and not recover while other times it may just be a temporary downturn in the stock market.
Then if you leave your money invested you may earn a fortune.
But you do need to be prepared to lose money in the stock market especially if you're a beginner.
Also if you make money on the stock market you need to ensure you report that income on your income taxes.
Yes you do need to pay taxes on any stocks you have when you make a profit on those stocks.
You have to report any profits from stocks you've invested in when you report your other income.
The amount of taxes you pay on your stocks for the profits you make depends on how much profit you made with the stocks.
The less profit you made or make on your stocks the less income tax you need to pay and the more profit you make from your stocks the more income taxes you need to pay.
If you're unsure how to report the income correctly from your stocks you should speak with a tax preparer who can help you report your income taxes correctly.
I hired H R Block for my income taxes because I was unsure on how to fill out the income tax forms and it was well worth the cost.
There are some online income tax help websites as well that you can use but taking the form directly into H R block and have them help file the taxes for me was well worth it.
Those income tax forms can be very confusing to some people including myself.