How to Get Into Investing When You Have No Clue What You're Doing
Investment can be an incredibly confusing topic to tackle, and women often avoid it entirely. Our deeply ingrained money stories, coupled with our more cautious nature, often prevents us from taking the leap into investing. Plus, investing conjures up images of rich bankers in suits, which is a tad unnerving to say the least.
It's time to scrap all these pre-existing notions, build better habits, and take charge of your financial future. But first, let’s go over the basics. You shouldn’t invest unless you have an emergency savings fund, your short term expensive debts are resolved and long-term debt repayments are under control. You also need to outline your short-, mid-, and long-term financial and life goals before you start investing.
* Sorry ladies but a quick disclaimer: remember that investing is risky, and you may not recover all the money you initially put in.*
Once you have that covered, you can start thinking about investing, because it really is a vital tool to help build your wealth (check how much interest you’re getting on your cash savings if you don’t believe us). The best thing is that, in this day and age, you can not only get a date, borrow a dog or order pizza with the swipe of a phone, but you can manage your money and invest in this way, too. If you can automate your bills, why not your investments?
There are many ways to go about investing: from stocks to bonds to mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Not every asset is a good fit for everyone. And while people often see "stocks" and "investment" as synonyms, buying individual stocks is not for everyone and very risky. There are other lower-risk, lower-cost options beyond simply buying individual stocks, which includes mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (or ETFs). Investments by definition are high yield over the long term - the operative word being long term.
To break down this somewhat stressful topic, here are 5 things to consider that might help you in your journey toward investing:
💸Align your investments with your goals. The first step should be to ask yourself what you are investing for. Investing will help you achieve these mid- to long-term goals, like retirement, where you will not need the money for 5-10 years (at least). Once you know what you're investing for, it'll be easier to figure out which investments and investment tools are right for you. Remember that the longer you have to achieve your goal, the more risk you can usually take. And by taking more risk, investors expect a higher return - be careful, though, as nothing is guaranteed.
💸Understand what stocks and shares are. The term stocks should be used when discussing ownership of companies in general, whilst the term shares is used to describe ownership of a specific company. Both represent your ownership in a publicly traded company. The conventional advice behind buying stocks suggests that you start by doing your research and understanding the company you want to buy shares from, as well as its operations, financials, business plan etc.
💸Don't forget about bonds. When you invest in a bond, you are lending money to a company or to a government. In exchange for the capital, the company pays an interest coupon—the annual interest rate paid on a bond, expressed as a percentage of the face value. At the end of the fixed period, you will receive your initial investment back. Bonds offer investors a way to diversify their portfolios away from shares because of their stable and relatively low volatility (i.e. ups and downs). Investing in bonds is usually considered more risky than holding cash but less risky than investing in shares.
💸Consider funds to diversify your portfolio. ETF stands for exchange traded fund, and just like a stock, it is traded on stock exchanges. But unlike a stock, which focuses on one company, an ETF tracks an index, a commodity, bonds, or a basket of securities. In simpler terms, is that when you buy funds, you are diversified. ETF's make it much easier (and cheaper) to accomplish the diversification that wins in the long run.
💸Think about your strategy. Your investment strategy and the risk profile of your investments should depend on the time you have until you’re trying to accomplish a goal. The less time you have until you’re trying to accomplish a financial goal, the less risky your investment strategy should be. It's wise not to put all your eggs in one basket and try to diversify to lower your risk exposure. In practice, this means diversifying across company sizes, sectors, and geographic locations. When you build your portfolio of investments, you will want to build a portfolio of equity funds (funds that invest principally in stocks) and bond funds - you can determine how much of each (in %), based on the risk you are wiling to take. Bond and equity prices may move in opposite directions - and usually more risk means more equity, less risk means more bonds.
💸Choose an investment platform. There is a wealth of investment platforms out there. Choose the one that best aligns with how you want to invest. Whether you want to have a more DIY approach (you pick your own investments using an investment platform or a fund supermarket) or have a robo-advisor that offers a ready-made bundle of investments. As a rule of thumb, the more help you get, the more fees and charges you'll usually pay.
💸Seek professional advice if it feels too overwhelming. Sometimes, talking to a professional financial advisor or wealth manager is the best way forward. Not only can they assess your goals and risk but they can also recommend what would work best for you. Of course, this comes at a fee -- but if your situation is complicated and you need more clarity, it absolutely can be worth it.