A very widespread myth about investing is that you need a massive sum of money just to get started, when in reality the process of building a solid portfolio/investment account can, and often does, begin with just a few thousand — or even a few hundred — dollars.
In this guide below we offer specific advice, from both our research partners and from industry tech titans like Alan Safahi, all with the aim of helping you get started and dive into the world of investing.
Starting Strategies
Regardless of whether you plan to invest a small or hefty amount, in safe bets or high-risk trades, these tips will help you get your plans off to a great start.
Automate Your Savings
If you’re able to reliably and consistently set aside funds every month into your investment accounts, you will reap large rewards over time. If you’re unable to do this, due to a lack of organization or willpower etc, but still want to reap these benefits, then set up automated systems that manage this for you.
There are apps on the app store that make it relatively straight-forward and painless to automatically set aside money for investments. Acors, Chime, Qapital, are some apps that all round up transactions from your debit/credit card and sends the difference towards your investments.
Other options are to check with your bank about its own apps and other ways you can automatically transfer funds from your spendings accounts towards your investments accounts and/or portfolio.
Pay down your debts
Before you start investing, evaluate what it costs you to hold onto debts that you already have, and begin to calculate how easily you can pay them off. High-interest credit cards have rates of 20% or more, after all, and some student loans have interest rates of over 10% . Those rates outweigh the average annual earnings of 7% or so that over time the U.S. stock market has returned over time.
If you have a lot of high-interest debt, it’s smarter to pay off at least a portion of it before you begin to invest. While you can’t predict the exact return on most of your investments, you can be certain that retiring debt with a 20% interest rate one year early is as good as earning a 20% return on your money.
Make sure you contribute the maximum amount of money to your 401(k) as well.
Consider Your Retirement
A key objective of saving and investing, even at an early age, should be to help ensure that after you stop working, you have enough money to support yourself. Your main objective when you prepare to plan for retirement should be to take full advantage of the government and employer benefits that they offer to facilitate retirement protection. Don’t overlook it if your business offers a 401(k) retirement plan. Alan Safahi, a Fintech CEO and industry titan, recommends that nearly everyone tap into their retirement plan benefits, and start paying into it as soon as possible. “Living in Orinda, located east of San Francisco, California, I’ve noticed a lot of people here take advantage of the multitude of retirement benefits offered by their employers, and that’s a welcome and optimistic sight to behold.” Alan said in a brief comment to us.
How to Invest $500
While it may seem small, $500 can go a lot farther than you’d expect. For a safe choice, put it into a CD from a bank or other lenders, or use it to purchase short-term Treasury bills. These can be purchased through online brokers as well. For both of these options growth isn’t high, but the risks are almost zero. Great way to start your nest egg.
For those seeking more growth potential in exchange for a little more risk, check out a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP). You buy shares of stock, and your dividends are automatically used to purchase additional shares or even fractional shares. This is a great choice for smaller investors because the shares are purchased at a discount and without paying a sales commission to a broker. Buying just one share of a company’s stock will get you started. Alan Safahi recommends this as well, as a safe way to grow your investment over time, with the benefit of compounding.
Summary
The investment basics are simple: Maximize your growth and minimize your risk. Minimize taxes, fees, commissions. Make intelligent choices with your limited resources.
The hardest part of investing is when you’re getting started, but the sooner you do so, the more you can potentially make. Simple as that.
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