There is a wide range of entities defining the term “ investment” to their desire.
What stood out for me is “investment is using the money to purchase assets in the hope that the asset will generate income or appreciate over time” by instructor Shawn Grimsley of Study.com.
For starters, Udemy offers a fully online course on investment.
Going the extra mile to learn a little bit of what you are getting yourself into is the number one driver.
Investing requires a patient soul that is committed to hitting that long term target.
So, here you have some extra tips on how to do it (almost) effortlessly:
Start as early as possible
We all don’t realise that the sooner you decide to invest, the more you understand the capital safety of your financial position.
The whole conspiracy is that it gets better with time.
If you started 5 years ago, you would be in a more comfortable situation at the moment.
I do not know about you, but in my college “squad”, most of us thought that we were too young to save or invest.
We had a mindset that one day when we grow older, we’ll get so much money that we won’t have anything to do with it but invest.
How can one just instantly get rich within the flash of lightning?
Not so impossible, but yes it is. In Swahili, we say “haba na haba hujaza kibaba” to mean one by one makes a bundle.
This is a clear breakdown of the earliest bird that will always catch the worm.
You want to be that bird, everyone does.
Consider a piggy bank
Piggy banks are the ideal junior way of saving. Sometimes we don’t know where we throw our loose change and coins.
They look small, but when added up together can make a reasonable meal purchase for you.
Imagine if you put together all the change you’ve received from your just grocery shopping over the years.
These “1 bobs” we have always despised in our lives. Well, 1 shilling coins are still useful for change purposes.
Collect them and take them to the bank, they will not be rejected.
My baby sister has a piggy bank for only 1 shilling coins that she collects from anyone close who goes shopping.
At the end of the year, she takes them for an exchange to the local supermarket that desperately needs to give an accurate change to its buyers.
That’s how she makes her yearly savings.
I haven’t even told you about how she later uses that to purchase whatever she had on the year’s must-have.
Set your goals and objectives
One of the best tricks to help you reach the peak of your ambitions is the “vision board trick”.
Prepare a vision board and attach your favourite quotes, pictures, and to-do list.
Looking at your vision board every day will inspire, remind and draw you back in line in case you forget.
It is essential to make the vision board super attractive to the eye, so you don’t get bored.
Remember, it lasts up until all the goals you set are accomplished.
Consider your income and financial strength and relate them to your safety in saving.
Saving is one of those actions that need maximum discipline.
Use SMART (Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound) to help you set achievable goals.
Stay up to date
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest” – Benjamin Franklin.
It is vital to stay in the loop in regards to the sector you are investing in.
In the process, you’ll learn and discover a million other things you didn’t know about.
These might, in turn, help you to maximise your investment opportunities.
Learning opens new opportunities for growth. You could do this by subscribing and getting frequent alerts on new articles posted online on investing.
You could also go ahead and follow related parties on social media.
This could involve posts by your competitors in the sector. It is essential to study global markets as they keep getting regular updates.
This way, you will find out more about economic resources worldwide.
Acknowledge your financial status
Nobody knows your revenue and expenditure details more than you do.
Give a realistic comparison between your income and expenditure.
Do a critical survey on how well prepared you are for any financial catastrophe.
Are you doing the right thing to reach your financial goals? Are you saving as diligently as you must?
Also, are you straining your finances by saving more than is required in a month? This can happen too.
Your financial health needs to be as normal as possible.
There is a lot of financial applications to help you keep track of your monetary behaviour as you must. Do not do this alone!
Automate your payment
Thank God for the superficial existence of technology, you can now automate relatively everything.
Everyone around me calls me generous but for money.
While others find it hard to share bites, I’d instead give you my all except M.O.N.EY!
For egocentric money holders, automation of bills and payments seems to be the best solution for now. It gives you less control over your money. This doesn’t work with those who prefer cash at hand.
You can authorize your local banks and creditors to wire the necessary amount of money to your investment account.
It saves you the burden of forgetting and using the money meant for your investments.
It is also easy to follow up and track your funds.
You can as well integrate Robo advisors like betterment. Betterment has a 0% minimum investment fee and other suitable features for the beginner investor.
Note that Robo advisors are applications that help you manage your investments at a very low or no cost at all.
Own a fixed savings account
Fixed accounts stop you from misusing your investment funds.
The returns are guaranteed and come over time.
Fixed deposit accounts give you the advantage of interests upon maturity, which is usually annually.
Fixed savings give shape to your saving mannerism. This technique can work well alongside automated payments.
Make lending money your business
Many lenders have made numerous losses because borrowed money has not been returned at all.
You need to either stop lending money to friends and families or minimise it.
They are times when they will genuinely need you. Start lending and charging interest out of it.
Go ahead and request security for the given loan period.
However, be sure to set reasonable interests and security.
Otherwise, your borrowers will resort to banks and leave you hanging. And this is a terrible thing in case you considered this as an investment kind of business.
Enrol yourself in a “Chama” or local Sacco
Chamas are local social groups that bring a collective group of members to save money.
We sometimes refer to them as merry-go-rounds. Chamas are fun and easy to save because you join one that is considerately friendly to your pockets.
Chamas come with a governing body, and usually, there is a chief whip to wake the sleeping dogs.
It is also a way to build your savings discipline and invest as a group. Investing as a group has always been bigger and better.
Start and invest in a business
A profitable business is a stepping stone to upgrade your financial situation. Always target to invest early before the business blooms.
An already grown business is more expensive to get into than one that’s on the startup level.
You can even consider getting a loan from a trusted source so you can invest at the right time.
The future is unpredictable, and so you need to invest in securing those college funds and even a future home.
I wish I started to do this earlier.
I wish I would have followed closely what my high school teacher of economics taught.
Don’t let this be you.
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