Peter and Jessica lack an important part of investing—knowledge of what they are invested in. Apparently their next-door neighbor lacks that same understanding.

Buying stock is the process of understanding and owning a piece of a company. It is not just knowing the numbers; they must know what the numbers mean, especially with individual stocks. Peter and Jessica do not know what the numbers mean

Before they invest in individual stocks, they should really learn more about investing and the investment process.

Buying individual stocks is understanding what is going on in the world, region, country, economy, industry, and company. They need to understand Investing Principles 6 and 8: If you must invest in individual assets, know what you invest in and who you invest with, and don’t waste too much time, money, and energy trying to beat the market, unless you have a lot of time, money, and energy.

For people who have never invested before, I believe buying mutual funds (which are portfolios of stocks or bonds) is a much better first step in the investment education process.  Buying individual stocks is the last step on the investment hourglass bottom, not the first step.