Getting Started Investing

1. Do you spend less than you earn, every payday?
2. Have you paid off all of your debts (except your car, mortgage and HECS)?
3. Do you have an emergency stash of at least three month’s spending?
4. Do you have some cash you don’t plan on spending in the next three or so years?
   
5. Have you considered whether you are best to use your surplus to reduce your home loan, contribute to super or to invest? Learn more here.
   

What is investing?

Put simply, investing is the process of putting your savings to work to create more assets or income or a combination of both.

What should you invest in?

Investing in the right mix of assets is the key to achieving your goals. In fact, asset allocation accounts for 90% of the expected return over time. 

Generally, you can invest in five different asset classes. I call these the 5 B’s of investing. The first two B’s are Bricks (or buildings) and Businesses. They’re both capable of delivering high returns over the long term, although this varies significantly in the short term and so we call them growth assets. The next three B’s are Bullion, Bonds and Bills. These assets are more likely to generate lower but steadier returns so we call them defensive assets.

So how do you decide what the right asset allocation is for you?

In order to aim for a higher return, you need to allocate more of your investment to Growth assets and less to defensive assets.

So, you need to allocate enough to growth assets to deliver the return you need and enough to defensive assets so you can sleep at night and avoid panic reactions when the market falls.

Read more about asset allocation here.

Managing your behaviour

If you’ve got more than $5,000 then get some professional advice before investing.

If you are starting with less, use this as an opportunity to learn about yourself.

The most valuable lesson you can learn at this stage is how you react when your investments go up or down. If they go up, do you think you’re the next Warren Buffet? Or do you just get a warm feeling inside? If they go down, do you feel like selling and hiding under the doona? Or do you feel like buying more?

These insights into your reactions to volatility will put you in good stead when you’re ready to get serious.

With a small sum, the best place to get this experience is one of the micro-investing platforms, such as Raiz or Spaceship, that offer diversified investments with a range of risk/return profiles.

Alternatively, consider one of the low-cost share trading sites such as Pearler, Sharesies, or Commsec who offer the ability to buy fractions of shares or ETFs enabling you to get started with small sums.

Don’t get too obsessed with returns, fees or structure at this point. The important thing is to get started, gather a pool large enough to get serious and learn some valuable personal lessons.

Psssst… If you’re ready to invest a $5,000 minimum investment, you might want to try Life Sherpa | Invest, where all you have to do is choose a portfolio, then leave all the hard work to us.

Once you’ve built up a decent pool, say $5,000, it’s time to get some advice. Book a discovery call with your Sherpa.

Your adviser will help you build a long term investment plan based on your circumstances, goals, risk profile and time horizon. They will also provide accountability, and will improve your likelihood of sticking to the plan and achieving your goal.

Your plan will include the right asset allocation to maximise returns for the level of risk that you need and can tolerate. It will also recommend the best way to implement that allocation and the right product for your needs, taking into account fees, performance and taxation.