uLearnMONEY Team
- Posted on
When it comes to growing our money, tertiary students also will have the same concern like the working adults, thinking to start saving their money, although their main priorities are studying and completing their studies with flying colours. Most of the time, they will find ways to earn more money for their personal needs and wants such as getting several part-time jobs. This shows that at least they are aware and ready for their financial goals for the next 5 or 6 years after graduation.
Apart from getting part-time jobs, there is another way for you to earn and grow your money that is called an investment. Some of you may have adequate finance right now, but somehow you don’t know how to grow your money. Actually, the perfect time for you to make your money grow is when you earn more money than you need, and only then, you can start thinking about investing. Anyway, you need to plan and prepare well once you decide to start investing your money. If you are clueless and don’t know what to do, here are a few tips that will help you before you start investing.
1- GAIN as much knowledge as possible
In order to start investing, you need to know the basic rules, the features of investment and investment/trading strategies. There are many types of investments in Malaysia. Thus, you may start by reading investing books and searching relevant information to better understand the effective strategies and flow of investment via offline and online channels. In addition, try to search for tips on analyzing stocks, bonds and mutual funds. The beneficial tips available will teach and guide you on how to develop a winning investment strategy. You can then utilize the tips you’ve learned to practise in real life. For instance, you can browse Bursa Market Place website to learn more about the types and methods of investment.
2- PAY OFF high interest debts
No matter which type of investment that you choose, you probably need to evaluate your debts first before starting to invest. For instance, if you have credit card debt, it’s prudent for you to pay it off because the interest rate is quite high. When you pay off your debt in full, it will provide a guaranteed return on your money. Thus, you can save more money for investing purposes. For a low interest debt, you can start focusing on investing instead of slowly retiring the debt such as student loans. Furthermore, there are other ways for you to reduce or eliminate the student loans such as getting a higher CGPA in university/college or negotiate with the loan providers for restructuring or rescheduling the repayment plan.
3- FIND a brokerage firm
Next, if you want to proceed investing your money, you have to create a brokerage account. Brokerage account comprises two main options. The first options are known as online discount brokers which offer an easy investment through a computerised trading system. The second options are traditional brokerages, which provide one-on-one investment advice and services. Most new investors will prefer to choose online discount brokers rather than traditional brokerages. This is because online discount brokers require small initial deposits to get started hence, it will charge just only each buy and sell order you make and also will incur a low brokerage fee. As for traditional brokerages, this type of brokerage firm requires you to deposit a large amount of money up front and normally will charge you with higher fees. However, you also need to consider a brokerage firm that offers educational tools so that you can gain meaningful knowledge and methods on how to invest effectively.
4- TRY to broaden your investments
If you think you can just invest in one type of investment, then you are wrong. Actually, you can consider investing in various types of investments in which this is called a diversified portfolio. For the new investors, it is effective for them to start investing with a small amount of money on a regular basis to invest in various areas. In other words, by diversifying your investments, you will be exposed to a broad range of assets and market sectors, which can reduce the investment risk and maximize the returns efficiently.
5- CREATE a personal financial roadmap
It is crucial for you to draw your own personal financial roadmap with regard to savings and investment. You need to gain and understand adequate facts on both of these aspects in order to attain personal financial success. By creating your own financial roadmap, you will be able to easily track and follow your financial goals and of course, it must be with a smart plan. This is to ensure that at the end of the day, you will earn meaningful benefits to enjoy and fulfill your financial needs and wants. Nevertheless, you also need to consistently track and follow your financial roadmap prudently as this will also lead you to live a more fulfilling life and to be free from financial stress.
