As you mature, it becomes increasingly important to invest your money instead of just saving it. However, if you’re new to the world of investments, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed and even confused by all the available information.
That’s why we put together the following short guide with eight of the most important investment tips to get you started as a beginner.
- Set Goals
The first thing you need to do before you start investing your money is to find your “why.” For most people, the broader goal is to make more money but you need to be more focused than that.
For instance, you might invest your money in order to secure your income, safeguard capital or to increase capital. To determine your investment goals, consider variables such as your financial position, your personal circumstances, age, etc.
- Read About Investing
Another important step is to educate yourself about investing from sources such as InvestoTrend. This includes studying the fundamental terminology involved such as certificates of deposits (CDs), mutual funds, bonds, stocks, etc.
Not forgetting market efficiency, portfolio optimization, diversification and so on. All of these are the building blocks of a successful investor’s terminology.
- Start Investing Early
When it comes to investing, you’ll get more out of it if you start younger. However, this doesn’t mean that late bloomers won’t reap any benefits from it. The concept to grasp is that the more years you have to pump money into your investment account, the more you’ll benefit from the principle of compounded interest.
That’s why it’s worth it to start investing even if it seems like you only have a little bit to contribute. In fact, even high school and college students can get in on the investment action!
- Consider Automatic Investments
A great way to simplify the act of investing is to automate it. You can do this by setting up one or several automatic investment accounts with different service firms. This allows you to invest more consistently.
- Check Your Financial Condition
It’s also important to figure out how much you want or can invest. Use your common sense and be realistic because you don’t want to overwhelm yourself.
At the end of the day, you should have enough money left over in your bank account to pay your bills and daily living expenses after you’ve deducted your investment amount. Keep in mind that every investment is a risk and you never want to invest funds that you actually need to survive.
- Create Retirement Accounts
There are plenty of tax benefits that come with investing in a retirement account as well. For instance, investments such as 401K’s and IRA’s are all tax-deductible initial investments.
There are also other investments that require you to pay upfront taxes, but this excludes retirement accounts from which you can only extract funds once you retire. Roth IRA’s or Individual Retirement Arrangement is a good example of such a retirement account.
Be sure to ask your employer if they’re matching your personal retirement contributions so you can maximize your retirement investment.
- Consider Commissions
Beware of investment practitioners who’ll try to coax you into paying high commissions on all of your investments. If you’re going to do this, start by performing thorough due diligence first.
There are plenty of dubious “professionals” out there who’re known to accept commissions from investors only to disappear in a few months without a trace. Don’t fall for that trap.
- Make Sure You Diversify
The market is constantly fluctuating, which is why it’s important to maintain a diversified portfolio. That way, you won’t take a hit when certain markets plummet. Overseas markets are always a good idea.
