Investing your money is one of the best ways to earn a passive income, which is income that is generated without much effort from your end. Building a passive income is very important because it can help sustain you in the event of incidents like sudden job loss or even retirement.
Investing in the right places can help you earn great profits, even if you don’t have thousands of dollars to spare. At the same time, you must also avoid falling trap to those investments that could lead to a loss.
As a rookie, it might be difficult for you to distinguish between these two, but it’s imperative that you make the right choices. Educating yourself on the basics of investing is important. Here are 6 tips to help you get started on your personal investment journey.
Make a List of Your Choices
As a first-time investor, it’s best to research all the different types of investment available out there so you can pick and choose what suits your personal financial situation best. You can take up online courses or even pick up a plethora of tips from professional investors who share their knowledge for free.
Once you have a plausible list of options, you can pick one or two that seem the best based on your knowledge. In general, beginners are advised to stick to low-risk, low-return investments and move on to high-risk, high-return investments once they get more familiar with the game.
Use Only Your Income
Taking out loans to use the money in investing, especially as a beginner, is not a good idea. Chances are, even if you do make a profit, it’s either going to wholly go into clearing interest payments or even leave you in debt. The entire point of investment is lost here.
Only use whatever money is left over from your income after your basic expenses have been covered. If you need a loan for other reasons, you can seek the help of a professional’s counsel to help guide you to investing without using loan money.
Savings are More Important Than Investment
So, you’ll be investing money that you have, but do you also have an appropriate amount of savings set aside? If not, it’s better to build up good savings, including an emergency fund, before diving into investment. Leaving yourself without any savings is a surefire way to end up broke or in debt – so don’t do that!
Once you have some money set aside for an emergency, you can dedicate a portion of your income to invest, but savings should also be a priority.
Set Small Goals
It can feel a bit daunting listening to people talk about finance and investment, but it’s important to take things one step at a time to avoid overwhelming yourself. You shouldn’t make your first investment with the goal of raking in a thousand dollars (or even investing that much). Start small with whatever money you can afford to spare.
Your first goal could be to make as little as $10 in profit. It’s easy to achieve and will give you a confidence boost to keep going. Once you start getting more experience, you can keep upping the goal, and eventually, you could end up making thousands in profit!
Follow Financial Influencers
You may be following several influencers and bloggers on social media sites, depending on where your interest lies. Just like you may subscribe to posts from your favorite celebrities, food bloggers, etc. you should also find and follow professionals in the field of finance and investment who share tips and strategies that you can then use to boost your own portfolio. Thanks to the internet, these people aren’t too hard to find either!
Don’t Stop Reading and Learning
The world of finance and investment isn’t stagnant, therefore it is always moving and changing. The only way to keep up with it is to keep learning, keep reading, and keep adapting. You can read online or offline buy books written by experts, watch YouTube videos about personal finance, or even listen to podcasts where people share their experiences. All of this will help you widen your knowledge about investment, thus helping you to succeed.
