Sometimes when you hear the word investing, it makes you want to run off and hide. This shouldn’t be the case. You should be able to comfortably invest a part of your money for your future.
Investing has been proven to be one of the best ways by which one can attain financial freedom. This is the reason you should also be a part of the freedom that investing provides.
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Investing should not be a hurdle to you, there are ways by which you can start investing small and you can invest in ventures that are capable of giving you good returns and low risks.
Let us dive into how you can start investing with even the small amount of money that you have in your bank account or that you have saved over the years.
Start investing by saving
Of course, you already know that it will be impossible for you to invest in anything if you do not have any money at hand. So you must save a percentage of your income on a weekly or daily or monthly basis.
Yes, I know that you have a lot of things in your hands to pay for. You have expenses that your money may not even be enough to cover. This does not mean you shouldn’t keep a percentage of your money so you can use it for your investment.
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It’s ok to save at least 10% of all your income and then make do with the rest of the 90%, that way, once you have an investment opportunity you can have something that you have stored away to use. You can save in your bank account or an online savings account or you can use the older method which is the cooking Jar approach.
Invest in the stock market
You may whine that you have no idea how the stock market work but that shouldn’t be a problem because the internet is your friend. You can start researching how the stock market works and how you can start with the little that you have in your savings account.
Initially, it was difficult to invest in the stock market, today the internet has changed a whole lot of stuff and that includes the ability to invest in the stock market with a small amount of money.
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This means you can start with as little as $1 or if you have $50, it can be split between 5 companies or 10 depending on how you want it. The beauty of it all is that investing in the stock market at this age does not need a stockbroker.
You can get one if you want, the absence of a stockbroker takes away the part where you have to pay huge amounts of charges for the presence of a stockbroker. This Brooker is supposed to help you with selecting stocks. Therefore get yourself familiar with the stock market and move rapidly towards your financial dreams.
Try investing in real estate
These days you no longer need to own a house to be in real estate. There has been an upgrade in the economy and we can do something that is called real estate crowdfunding.
However, it is riskier than the stock market because you have to put, for instance, $5000 one time in a particular building. This defers from splitting your money the way you split your $50 around in the stock market as explained above.
On a brighter note, you will be sharing this risk with other real estate investors and this can be a safety net.
Consider investing in your Employer’s Retirement Plan.
For the sake of your financial life, you must consider investing in your employer’s retirement plan. This means you can set aside a small percentage of your money which you will not be missing for this feat.
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Talk to your employer about the different portfolios and plans that are available for employees in your company. You can start with as low as 1% of your income and then increase it as the year runs by.
Investing in low initial investment mutual funds is a big plus.
Mutual funds are good for new investors in the sense that you can invest in both stock and bonds in a single transaction. However, some company starts with a minimum of $500. If you agree to set up a monthly payment contribution of let’s say $50 or $100 then they will allow you to start investing low with them.
This payment contribution can be done automatically especially if you are working with a company. You can talk to your HR about making your payroll flexible enough to send a part of it to your mutual fund’s account.
Invest in Treasury Securities
Treasury securities may not have a lot of interest, but is a good place to start, and earn interest on money that you are investing, and once you are ready to take higher risks, you can take your money and invest in other ventures.
You can buy your government securities as low as $100 and you can also do this with your payroll contributions as we discussed in mutual funds above.
Unfortunately, the profit gain on treasury securities has been reducing as the years go by, so Treasury securities could only be a place for you to save your money until you need it
Conclusion
There are lots of opportunities to save money and to invest, times have changed. All you need to do is do your due diligence and work yourself up to your financial freedom.
