How to Start Investing in One Blog Post!

This is the last post in Your Ultimate Guide to Investing for Beginners. To read all posts in order, start with What is Investing? then continue reading the rest of the series on this page.

If you’ve made it this far, congrats! You now have a basic investment plan you can follow and I hope you’re putting in the hard work of putting it into action.

Here’s a quick round-up of the investment tutorial series.

1. Specify what it is that you’re investing for. Is it for retirement, education or buying a home? Defining your goals will help you make some of the investment choices.

2. Decide how much do you want to contribute to your investment. You don’t have to start out making this full contribution, but knowing where you’d like to get to and starting somewhere along that path will be helpful.

3. What’s your asset allocation? Your asset allocation is the mix of investments you’d like to use. It’s your personal choice. This would depend on your risk tolerance, time horizon and your financial goals.

4. Opening your investment portfolio account. It’s not as complicated as you think. or investors starting out, I suggest any one of three options: Mutual Funds, Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs) and Stock Market Investing.

For people who are not familiar with investments or those who do not have time on managing their investments, I would suggest starting with Mutual Funds or with Unit Investment Trust Funds (UITFs).
For people who want to have greater control of their investments, or those with experience with investments and those who have time to manage their investments, I would suggest Stock Market Investing.

Keep Contributing. Stay on Course.

The main work ahead of you is to simply keep contributing to your investments and to trust your plan and stay the course even when things get rocky. One of the most powerful investment tools you have at your disposal is consistency. Simply staying steady with your contributions and sticking to your plan will give you a really good chance at long-term investment success. Also, increase your contributions if you can.

Review and Revise

Over time, you may need to update your investment plan. As your circumstances change, and they absolutely will, your needs may change. No problem. Simply revisit these steps and see what adjustments need to be made. You may need to rebalance your portfolio to bring it back in line with your investment goals and risk tolerance. If you need help, a financial professional can help you decide which investment options are right for you.

Remember, do not to stress too much about getting everything right the first time. Investing is a learning process and you’ll have plenty of time to tweak your plan as you gain comfort and knowledge.

For now, the most important thing is to form the investment habit and start along the path.

Good luck!

xXx

Money Girl PH

If you feel that this series has helped you a lot, please share Your Ultimate Guide to Investing with other people who might need it too. Also, I’d love to hear what you’re thinking and feeling now that you’ve reached the end. Please share your success story with in the comments below or with me via email at moneygirlph@gmail.com.