Contents
- Automate Your Investments!
- Review Your Finances
- Teach Yourself About Investing
- Set Goals
- Start Early
- Consider Commissions
- Retirement Accounts
- Diversify
- Study, Study, Study
- Read the News
If you’re looking at investing for the first time it is likely that you have no Idea what you are doing.
It can be incredibly overwhelming to enter the world of investing and finance as a beginner – we have all been there.
Here are 10 tips to help you as a beginner.
Automate Your Investments!
There are various websites on the internet that will allow you to setup an automatic investment plan for each month.
One of which is Wealthfront, it allows you to invest in certain stocks, bonds, index funds, etc.
The best part of automating your investments is the very little maintence that is required – you barely have to do anything.
Furthremore, by investing at a constant rate you avoid your portfolio being impacted greatly by market volatility.
Review Your Finances
Before you invest anything it is important to realise how much you are willing to spend on your total investment portfolio.
Ensure you budget correctly, be realistic because you still need money to pay for your regular bills or loan payments.
It is important to remember that loosing the money you invest is a possibility, so you don’t want to be left without the ability to pay your bills.
Teach Yourself About Investing
Once you have sorted your finances out, it is time to teach yourself about investing.
Learn basic investing jargon that is commonly used so you can communicate and understand how you are performing.
Moreover, learn about different means of investing – that might be strategies such as dollar-cost averaging or forms of securities such as stock and mutual funds.
Once you have started to build up your portfolio, start to learn about diversification, market efficiency and portfolio optimization.
Set Goals
All good investors have a set idea of what they want to get out of each investment they place.
Do you want long-term or short-term returns?
Depending on your answer it would be prudent to consider various things such as your age, personal circumstances and your financial position and dictate your goals around them.
Start Early
The earlier you begin investing, the better your returns will be in the long-term.
This means that the sooner you start, the less money you will need to continue investing to reach your desired investing goals.
Learn about compounding because essentially this is what will happen to your investments over time.
If you’re in high school or college, don’t hesitate! Just get started – you will be happy that you did in the future.
Consider Commissions
If you discuss potential investments with a broker, it is important to consider that they may be encouraging you to purchase shares that result in them receiving a high commission.
Do not do this unless you have done your own independent research.
If you’re unsure about an investment don’t invest or ask for a second opinion – safeguard yourself against dodgy brokers.
Retirement Accounts
There are some great tax benefits to having a retirement account.
IRA’s and 401 K’s in some cases can have initial investments be tax deductable which is a welcomed boost to your investing career.
Some employers will match your individual contributions to your IRA so ensure to find out if your employer has this process in place.
Diversify
The market is volatile – you don’t need to be an expert to know this.
To avoid your portfolio losing money when the market takes a downturn it is important to diversify.
By diversifying your portfolio you’ll have stocks going down at the same time as stocks going up, ensuring a balanced investment portfolio.
Overseas markets can also be an option for more experienced investors as not all markets fall at the same time.
Study, Study, Study
It is crucially important to monitor and study your portfolio at the conclusion of every week, or even trading day.
What was a good investment yesterday may not be a good investment today or tomorrow.
The only way you can know if changes need to be made such as closing a position is to constantly check on the performance of your portfolio.
Study what is working well and what is not and make changes according to your findings – profitability and growth are key!
Read the News
The news will often give a brief insight into the markets and outline how the indices went.
Watch this every night and you’ll start to pick up an understanding of why the markets are going down.
Usually a news story such as a natural disaster will explain why some stocks or commodities like oil have dropped in price.
Trade safe!
Disclaimer: The information above is for educational purposes only and should not be treated as investment advice. The strategy presented would not be suitable for investors who are not familiar with exchange traded options. Any readers interested in this strategy should do their own research and seek advice from a licensed financial adviser.
Thank you,