In the second of our three part series on what it takes to begin investing online I'm going to focus on some of the mechanics that you will need to follow.

The very first thing you should do is think! Not too hard then? Yes you need to decide on what approach you will take. Do you want to have a totally passive income, are you willing to market opportunities to others, would you be willing to spend some time in front of a computer every day to complete various tasks and perhaps most importantly what will you do about the tax on any earnings you make.

Addressing the last point first (as it's important) it may pay great dividends to spend some time setting up your tax status before anything else. If you are looking to minimise your tax liability (legally of course) then take a look at Sovereign Life otherwise make sure that you make allowances by saving some of your proceeds for any taxes that become due. If you are able you should take full advantage of existing tax laws in your country so that you pay your taxes as late as possible. You won't avoid them but hopefully you can use the funds to earn interest whilst they are available to you.

The next thing you should do is open an payment account. In the very early days of online investing credit card companies were happy to be used for providing funds to various programs. It soon became clear however, that crooks saw the opportunity provided by credit card companies to undertake charge backs that created fraudulent transactions. As a result it is now almost impossible to use credit cards for these types of program. Below I explain one way that this is now partially overcome.

Hence the need for an payment account. Some of the popular ones are AlertPay, Liberty Reserve and c-gold. Which one you choose will depend upon personal circumstances and how you can fund them. Also, online programs often dictate which payment options they take so you could end up with having an account with each of them.

As a start AlertPay is one that you should look at. Firstly it has the ability to accept direct payments from your bank (please check to make sure that this is available in your country as there are some restrictions). Also, when your account is validated you are able to associate two credit cards with your account. This allows you to send payments to programs and pay by credit card. Note that there is a limit of $250 per card per month currently so it may not be suitable for all your needs.

If you need to purchase Liberty Reserve or c-gold you will need to use the services of another third-party company and again there are many to choose from. Market leaders in this field are London Gold Exchange and Eforexgold.I would recommend London Gold Exchange as they have been in business for many years and their processing is very fast. If you live in an appropriate country you can also set up your account to make payments directly from your bank account.

As with all online transactions nowadays you should be prepared to provide verification of your details to all of these companies as without it they cannot do business with you. Also, remember that they are in existence to make a profit so you will be charged for their services. It's important to build these charges into your calculations when determining how much to invest.

In our final post we'll take a look at the various types of program available and how someone who is just starting out might begin.