So how can you start investing?
Investing in your 20s is easier than you think. It isn’t complicated at all. It all starts with a common sense guide to good financial habits, which is the groundwork for successful investing habits over your lifetime. Whatever good habits you learn about managing your money in your 20s, will lead you to save, invest, and grow your wealth even in your 30s or 50s.
I made my first investment when I was 23 years old. I was fresh out of my post-graduate degree and suddenly found myself a great internship job with a somewhat decent salary. One afternoon, a financial advisor/family friend approached me presented to me a number of financial products ranging from insurance to investments that had perfectly suited my ‘financial’ needs. At that moment, like many young women, I never thought of making investing a priority. I feel it’s because we fail to understand how investing can help us in the long run.
On today’s post, I’ll share with you the steps I took when I first started my investment journey.
Don’t worry, I’ve made it simple and easy for you understand. Here goes…
I Read, Listened, Watched and Learned… A Lot!
First of all, if you’re not sure how to handle your money, YOU’RE NOT ALONE. I didn’t figure out good money management until I was in my late 20s. But then, someone shared to me the first book I’ve read about money management – 8 Secrets of the Truly Rich by Bo Sanchez And it has definitely changed the way I looked at money. From then on, I have continued to read more books and magazines, visited money-related blogs and websites, and watched numerous educational videos on YouTube. There is so much good and, yes, free stuff in the internet. Basically, I taught myself about investing and finance.
My favorite thing about learning about personal finance is the inspiration it gives me to be SMART with handling my money – from buying rental property, working on side businesses, avoiding debt or simply being frugal in creative ways.
There are hundreds or excellent personal finance and investing resources in the world. Read about investing & money. {Coming Soon: CLICK here to see my book recommendations and blogs to get you started.}
Set Financial Goals
Setting goals doesn’t sound like an exciting and fun activity, but it has helped me save for exciting and fun things (like a travel fund), as well as more important things (like money for retirement). By taking the time to think about what my goals are, how much they cost, when I want them by, I was able to know exactly how much I needed to save each month.
What about you? What are your financial goals? What does it mean for you to be financially successful? What does it mean to be rich? Buying a house? Earning a 6-figure monthly salary? Having 100,000 pesos in your bank account? Driving a brand new, high-end car? Becoming a millionaire? Starting a business? Travel around the world? Be debt free? All of the above? WRITE DOWN your financial goals. The more specific you can be about your goals for your life, the easier it will be to develop a plan to reach them.
I Started Small… and Thought Big!
You don’t need a lot of money to start investing!
A popular perception is that investing requires a lot of money, resulting having people put off by investing. Let me tell you again, “You don’t need a lot of money to start investing!” There are many investment products out there that allow you to start investing with little funding requirements. Sunlife, for example, allows you to start a mutual fund for as low as P5,000. Another great feature of someone like Sunlife is that they manage the investments for you. This allows you to focus on other important things.
Often hear individuals in their 20s and early 30s say that they do not have enough money to start investing. I don’t believe it! I believe everyone has enough money to start investing if they make it a priority.
If lack of money is thing you’re dealing with as you consider while investing in your 20s, you have to realize that every little money helps. You may think that Php500 you put away each month will accomplish nothing. So instead, you spend it on something else. Please don’t fall into that trap. If you feel that you can’t afford to start investing in your 20s, look at your expenses and see what can be cut to free up money to go into your investments. It will require you to adjust a bit in the beginning, but once it becomes a habit, you won’t even notice it.
It’s time to think big. Most likely, you’ve started your career. CHALLENGE yourself to find the Php500 (or even more) in your monthly spending plan and start investing now. This means you have to regularly set aside money specifically to invest. Do this once a month or better yet every payday.
Also, saving even more offers you a chance of early financial independence.
I KISSed… Kept It Short and Simple. (Simplify Your Investments)
A Mutual Fund IS THE SIMPLEST WAY TO START INVESTING IN YOUR 20S.
Investing involves taking risk for the potential of higher returns. Many people can’t handle this idea, so they stash their money in a savings account somewhere for 40 years.You can, if you want to. However, investing in a mutual allows you to potentially grow your money at a higher rate than in a savings account.
If you are newbie investor with a medium or long-term goal such as retirement or buying a home, investing in a mutual fund would be a better place to start. By choosing to invest your money this way, you get exposure to lots of individual stocks or bonds. Since most mutual funds have a team of managers, aka fund managers, that do the actual research and selection of individual stocks or bonds that make up their mutual fund portfolio, the hard work will already be done for you. Think of mutual funds as a shortcut to diversifying your money across many types of stocks or bonds.
JUST THINK: You could invest Php 500 per month into mutual funds over the next 30 years, and potentially grow your money from Php 180,000 to Php 680,000! If, instead, you just put the Php 500 per month into your savings account, earning 1 percent a year (at most), you could potentially grow your money to Php 210,000.That’s a huge difference! Which do you prefer?
Early Bird Catches the Fattest Worm
I have learned when it comes to saving & investing, the basic math is certain: if you save even small amounts when you are very young, and invest that money, it will grow to a sizable amount over 30-40 years. This is compound interest working for you. This is why everyone should learn how to invest while they are young.
Time is the biggest advantage a 20-something-year-old has with investing. The early you start, the more financially rewarding it becomes.
So… Don’t think about it, put it off, or make excuses…JUST DO IT NOW!
Conclusion
By now, you should understand the basics of investing. I understand how complex and overwhelming investing can seem to be, but with a little education and research, I hope you can start feeling more confident and begin investing in your future early on.