Hey Bud,
The best advice I can give you is to learn as much about the coins as possible before investing. Get a real understanding as to what blockchain is and what the differences between each coin are. For example some use Proof of Work POW and some use Proof of Stake POS and some have smart contracts included, like Viva Network and some do not. Read up on Andreas Antonopoulos he's got a few great books that can explain crypto and blockchain really well. There are also a ton of good youtube videos and ted talks that explain how it all works. Hope that helps, best of luck and welcome to the future!
Viva Network Team
Vivanetwork.org