With concerns about another lockdown, I’ve spoken to several people concerned about their financial worries. I’ve put together some top tips from my years of expertise:
How to Get Your Teenager to Invest (or Boomer or Millennial)
The earlier you start to invest, the more money you will have. That’s obvious. What’s not obvious is that you don’t have to work hard to get that return (teenagers don’t like working hard), and the returns are exponential (so you’ll have a lot more to TikTok about in a few short years).
The maths is mind-boggling. Starting at 18 with just a thousand pounds (let alone at birth, like my son) makes a difference of millions compared to someone starting at 50, by the time both retire, dependant on contributions and average market returns. Investing alone can make millionaires. Let alone all the hard work needed aside from that.
Why It is Not Too Late or too Risky to Start Investing
You may think it is too late to start? Or too risky. The best way to reduce risk, is to pick stocks from a global market place. (See below). Also hold for 12 months then review. That time-frame mitigates the risk of short-term falls which happen even in quality companies.
Don’t forget, your SIPP and ISA can invest in foreign companies and the currency risk and commissions is negligible. You use the same brokers as you do for UK stocks.
What Prompted That First Investment?
The top answers from your peers:
My parents/relatives encouraged me
It felt the right time
My income increased and I had money
I started a new job
How Do You Research Stocks?
This is what scares people and so they think they have to give their money to a fund manager or expensive IFA. No. You can learn yourself. Promise.
One important thing is filter, filter, filter. That means you pick stocks like a spouse. Make sure they tick ALL the boxes. Are they undervalued, growing, paying income, good cash-flows?
Free tools online allow you to filter, filter, filter. Do not pick by journalist stories. Journalists jobs are to get you to click. They are good at spinning stories. They are not professional investors.
Most people get their information from family or a financial advisor or their own research. I suggest the best is your own research. I’ve listed a free tool at the end of this article.
Whilst people are more likely to have funds than stocks, and many just leave it in an account, I suggest stocks will give you the best returns as funds dilute the returns of individual winning stocks by definition.
Invest Like a Millionaire When You Are Not One
Read my book (free) Investing Unplugged. It’s an international bestseller, published by Palgrave Macmillan. I teach you more about what you need to do. It’s free at www.investing-champions.com
Alpesh Patel
