I'm Miriam. Until now I led a rather modest but contented life in my rented two-bedroom apartment in Columbus, Ohio. My job as an administrative assistant at a mid-sized company gets me by just fine.

One evening changed my life. I opened my mailbox and took out an official letter. In short: I had inherited money. My parents died in a car accident five years ago, and I had little or no contact with the rest of my relatives. Uncle Vincent made me his sole heir.

At the attorney's appointment I was simply speechless. I had inherited a villa, three condos, valuables, two brokerage accounts and about $600,000 in cash. He also left me a personal letter. "Kiddo, invest the money well. I always invested in stocks. Look into stocks for beginners and get advice. With stocks for beginners you can't go wrong at first."

I could barely breathe. Then came the closing line: "Keep your job and grow my money. Then fulfill your dreams and start your own business".

What are stocks for beginners?

For the first few days I brooded a lot. What are "stocks for beginners" supposed to be? Does it mean the components of the Dow or the S&P 500? Shares of the big corporations in America? One thing was clear: I needed a bank appointment? But should I trust my own bank? Don't they just want to make money off me now?

I had to be careful not to let the whole thing simply overwhelm me. But these words kept circling in my head: "stocks for beginners".

An online brokerage account was my start

My decision was made: I'd do it on my own! I opened an online brokerage account and spoke with my company. I took a nine-month leave of absence. Fortunately, that was possible at our company. First I had to sort everything out. My boss understood and would be happy if I carried on afterwards.

That's my plan, but only part-time. I didn't want to change my personal lifestyle much. Two trips are important to me. One to Thailand and one to Dubai.

Before that, though, stocks will be bought, namely those stocks for beginners. I watched the financial news every day and developed more and more of a feel for what was going on. I compared the companies' charts over the last five years. Trade in New York or better in Frankfurt? I looked into stop-loss orders. I bought specialist books and came to really enjoy the subject. I wanted to prove to myself and to my late uncle that I could grow his fortune.

I'm a lucky girl and I don't take it for granted to have received this chance.