I’m new to investment – Where do I start?

Got a spare bit of money saved to one side, and want to put it to work rather than leaving it to fester in a low-interest savings account? Depending on the amount that have you have stored away, and what your aims are for the future, investing can be a fantastic way of building up your income in the short term, or even sustaining steady growth in your value and worth in the long term.

Looking to start investing some of your savings, and putting your capital to work in order to build up your finances and take your journey into financial freedom to the next level? For those that are unsure of where to start with an investment portfolio, here are a couple ofpointers on good ways to get started.

Do your research

As with any new skill or business strategy, the best way to become aware of what’s best for you financially, and to be in with the best chance at success, is to do your research and study up on some of the best investment methods. Whether it’s an eBook, a video series on YouTube, an online seminar or even a simple article/guide to investment, there a ton of resources out there on the internet, available forabsolutely FREE.

Spend a lot of time commuting to and from work each day? Why not put some of this free time to good use, and fill the void with a productive podcast to help you learn about the investment market? There are a ton of podcasts out there that will give you insight in bite-sized chunks, such as The Property Talk podcast from RWinvest, which offers tips and advice on the UK property market, including where to get started, the best areas to invest in Buy to Let, and some of the different things that you should be taking into consideration with regard to due diligence when investing.

Tip – There are plenty of people out there on the internet that have an opinion, and while it’s good to get a range of different perspectives on a given topic by visiting forums and using sites such as Reddit for more information, you should also make sure that you’re getting facts and figures from people that know what they’re talking about. Where possible, pay attention to the facts and figures; the statements that can be backed up with a reliable source, rather than speculation and inaccurate rhetoric.

Think about how involved you want to be with the investment process

An important thing to think about when debating investment is actually how involved you want to be in the process, as it can be easy to bite off more than you can chew when inexperienced. It’s true that you can stand to make more money if you keep a close and diligent eye on your investment portfolio, but for some the reassurance of an automated portfolio allows them to focus on their career while their money works for itself. Again, do the research on what sort of strategy would be suitable for you depending on how much time you can feasibly allocate to your investment strategies, and go from there. Good luck!