How to Start Investing: 8 Easy Steps For Beginners

Start investing today and see your money work for you

Anyone who has thought about their financial future has thought about how to start investing. The verb perhaps sounds like a distant possibility to many people. But the truth is that there are many ways to invest.

Knowing them, choosing your own, and taking the first steps should be among the priorities of those who dream of a comfortable life. If you lack security on how to start investing, check out our guide that will help you.

How to start investing in 8 simple steps

If you want to know how to start investing, we are here to help. After all, using your money wisely isn’t too complicated. Check out eight unmissable tips that will help you start on this journey.

1) Financial planning

It is the first step for anyone who is organizing their finances and wants a diagnosis before investing. When you do financial planning well, you find out exactly what is going in and out of your budget.

An important tool for this expense control is the financial spreadsheet. In it, you will fill everything you receive and everything you spend.

With the planning done, see where you can cut unnecessary items to save money. This way, you will have more money to invest.

Establishing a fixed amount and how often you intend to invest. Whatever makes the most sense and fits your budget.

2) Get rid of debts

You may have some overdue bills to pay before you start investing. If this is your case, you must settle your debts before committing your money to investments.

When you have debts, you cannot accumulate equity because you will always suffer from the interest that can make it snowball.

If you have debts, survey the total amounts and look for companies to negotiate them. It may even be that you get some kind of discount or instalment.

3) Know your goals

This tip is very important. Having your goals well-defined is essential for anyone who wants to start investing. They are the ones who will motivate and guide you to make the right investments for your future.

After you’ve organized your finances, it’s time to think about what you want to do with the money.

Separate short, medium, and long-term goals, so you don’t focus only on one period and forget the others. Having balance in this planning is also important, which will facilitate your investments.

4) Discover your investor profile

Another important factor when setting your goals is to think about your investor profile. Have you heard about this subject?

The profile is a set of analyzes of your characteristics and attitudes when it comes to money. That is how you deal with the risk of losing money. There are three types of investors:

• Conservative: This type of investor prioritizes income security and prefers to invest in low-risk alternatives. This is because his risk tolerance is lower, and he fears losing money.
• Moderate: is the investor who likes security but is more open to investing in applications with a little more risk. Therefore, it ends up being a little more versatile regarding money.
• Aggressive: This investor is not afraid to take risks and does not feel butterflies in his stomach. He prioritizes the possibility of greater profitability, even if that means being open to greater risks.

5) Have a diversified investment portfolio

Building a diversified portfolio based on risk tolerance is one of the best ways. Matching how much risk you’re willing to take to how far away your financial goals are is essential for investing successfully.

If you have many years until you need your money, then there may be more time for the market’s fluctuations, and you could afford to take on a greater risk portfolio with a higher expected return.

However, if you need access to your money sooner and don’t want to risk principal losses, prioritizing safety may require a less aggressive approach.

6) Make an emergency reservation

Do you know that saving money which can save the bills at the end of the month after a squeeze? Yeah, that’s what we call emergency reserve or financial reserve.

It is an important value for times of possible needs and unforeseen events that may happen.

Families’ present and future are compromised when you don’t have an emergency reserve. This is one of the mistakes you need to avoid. Therefore, always ensure an emergency reserve for possible errors.

7) Determine the amount that will be invested monthly and adjust the budget

You may have heard the recommendation that you need to pay yourself first. If your goal is to invest, that phrase is truer than ever.

After establishing a budget and accounting for how much you can afford to invest, it is important to consider this amount as a “cost” in your monthly expense spreadsheet.

Separate this amount as soon as you receive your income, and direct it to a safe investment. The risk of not doing this, leaving to invest what is left in the account at the end of the month, is exactly that of ending up not investing anything.

Last-minute expenses tend to take up part of the available amounts, missing what is most important – the preservation of assets and the multiplication of wealth. Therefore, paying yourself first is a real necessity.

8) Have patience and discipline

This might be the hardest part for you: having self-control and discipline to keep financial planning up.

Always try to think about your goals and learn to prioritize your dreams. The consequence of this is that you will naturally end up dedicating yourself more to the achievements of the future.

Another important tip is that results usually take time to appear in the world of investments, especially in fixed income.

It won’t be overnight that you will be able to build wealth. So be patient and continue investing to maintain a regular income.