Getting Started With Investments as a Complete Beginner

Investing is often seen as a discipline that is close to gambling. After all, you’re putting money on the line in hopes of getting more money–so isn’t that considered gambling?

Not quite.

Investments have a bad reputation among those who aren’t in the know. For those that are in the know and understand how investments actually work, it can turn into a lucrative side-hustle or even a full-time job. There are countless opportunities when it comes to investments, so here’s a beginner’s guide on how to get started.

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What exactly is an investment?

Investments are essentially a way of putting cash into something of value with the hopes that its value will increase in the future. There are fast-paced markets such as foreign currencies which can go up and down in value throughout the day. Stocks can also fluctuate wildly, meaning it’s possible to make money every day throughout these fast-paced investments.

However, investments can also mean buying a property in hopes that its value will increase in the near future. It could also mean managing your finances by putting your money into a savings account which is another form of investment. This is known as a guaranteed investment because interest will slowly build up and you’ll get a bit more value a few years down the line. However, anything that’s guaranteed isn’t lucrative, hence why many people refer to real investments as gambling.

What type of investments should I consider?

If you’re willing to do your research and stick with investments for a while, then we suggest trying out an easy beginner broker with a trial account to see how well you’ll fare. Trial accounts give you “fake” money to invest or trade with using real-world values. It’s essential a “could have been” scenario.

Alternatively, if you’re more interested in investments that you have control over, then you could consider purchasing property or even a business. Investments don’t have to be high-risk–they could just be high-effort. Running a company is a great investment that you have a lot of control over, but it’s arguably a lot more expensive and hard work than trying to master the art of trading.

Tips for beginners that are new to investing

No matter what type of investing you decide to put effort into, here are a couple of helpful tips that will make things easier in the long run.

• Learn from your losses by analyzing what went wrong and what could’ve been improved
• Don’t invest with money that you can’t afford to lose, especially if you’re into currency trading and stocks
• Do your research into a market and don’t just consider one source of information
• Practice by starting low and work up your experience and skills instead of jumping into the deep end
• Try to keep your emotions out of it instead of letting it affect your decision making
• Set some time each day to spend on your investments

With these tips, we hope that you have a much easier time learning how to invest and also making a successful side-hustle or even career out of it.