Investment is one of the best ways you can ensure you meet your financial goals and retire in comfort. However, people aren’t investing their money. According to one study, as many as 47 percent of Americans are not putting their money into investment opportunities. So how do we find them? This article outlines eight great investment tips.
There are many barriers to investment, but the greatest one is fear. You may be afraid that you don’t know enough to start investing. But you don’t need to know how much is a shilling or the difference between NASDAQ and Nikkei to start investing. You only need some money, a little courage, and some advice.
8 Great Investment Tips
Here are eight tips beginner investors such as yourself can use to ensure you are moving in the right direction.
1. Start Small
You don’t have to be in your 30s or even have a stable career to make investments. You can start as long as you have a few dollars. Investment is a numbers game, and the sooner you start, the more money you stand to make. A few hundred dollars invested now can be worth just as much or even more than a few thousand invested 10 years from now.
2. Real Estate Is Precious
Few things remain as precious as real estate. Gadgets come and go, corporations can rise and fall. But land is land. Find a real estate development company you believe is making great strides and look into whether their company is open to public investors. You can be pleasantly surprised how fast you can expect a return of investment, especially if the company is smart about its projects.
3. Identify Your Goals
Investment is a project and every project should have clear goals. Without goals, you are apt to lose your motivation or lose track of what you are doing. Investment goals can be as simple as “make enough money to buy a house” or they can be as complex as “have a return of investment twice of what I spent”. An investment goal will help you and any professionals you consult with when you are looking into new investment opportunities.
4. Tiny Amounts Can Add Up
You may be under the misunderstanding that you need to put up hundreds or thousands of dollars. However, thanks to modern technology, there are now many financing options where you can invest as little as $1. These options are accessible through mobiles apps, which makes them even more convenient than regular investment. Depending on the investment you chose, your $1 can return as 10, and you can compound that interest and snowball a nest egg.
5. Be Disciplined
Great investment tips should always include discipline. Investments are like plants: you have to nurture them and watch them as they grow if you want them to be successful. Check-in on your investments at least once a month, every week if possible. You don’t have to check their status multiples times a day, but you should be aware of how they’re moving with each week. Keeping yourself updated is essential if you want to make the right decisions on buying or selling your investments.
6. Diversify
Never put all your eggs in one basket and never put all your money in one investment option. There are dozens of ways you can invest your money: real estate options, microfinancing businesses, buying stock options, or putting them in mutual funds or index funds. You can explore and invest in all these options, provided you have the resources. Diversifying your portfolio makes it less likely that you lose all your money in case one of the tanks.
7. Be Ready for Change
The economy shifts, sometimes slowly, sometimes drastically. These changes can happen in a blink of an eye or over a longer period. This means you must be ready to change your investment strategy in a blink of an eye. This requires a great degree of flexibility, whether with your investment goals or with your expectations. Learn to adjust both of these on the fly and you will be rewarded with peace of mind and a healthy financial future.
8. Risk Is Part of Investing
Investment has been compared to gambling and there is some truth in this claim. However, unlike gambling, there are plenty of metrics financial experts can keep an eye on. This means you can reasonably assess the risk of an investment. Use this information and compare them to your finances. Can you take a financial hit if the mutual fund you put your money in tanks? Do you have a diverse enough portfolio that you can begin investing in stocks? Be smart with your investment and never put out more than you are willing to lose.
Conclusion
Investing requires courage as much as it needs a strategy. We hope these great investment tips, along with your own bravery, will serve you well as you start down the road of your investing life.
