Do you wonder what can you do to start investing your money? This article might be a help for you.

A lot of times, many of us face the problem that we have no money when we need it. The reason for that is, we don’t know why we spend money on the stuff we don’t need.

That is why having an investment whether for emergency or other goals is crucial. It provides us the money when we need it. 

Each of us has financial goals such as education, health care, buying a home or a car, or going on a  vacation. With the investment, you can achieve all those goals.  

Moreover, people can solve financial problems such as debt, overspending or impulsive buying.

Some people think that investment as a difficult and complicated concept to master. Others think that it needs a lot of money and many steps to start.

Some even afraid of losing money on it. But those things are not true and don’t have to be that way. 

Investment is a financial asset that people buy to get profit in the future or from the margin between selling and buying price. What will actually take you to invest are continual learning, discipline, and courage.

No matter how much money you have, you can begin investing today even with Rp100.000.

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[Read: 6 Causes of Impulse Buying and How to Resolve It]

 

The purpose of this article is to help the reader to be familiar with the basics of investment and gain the confidence to take action to start investing in the right instrument.  

 

The Purpose Of Investment 

There are 2 important things to consider before going with the instrument. Determining your financial goals and calculating the amount of money to achieve you want to achieve.

There are short-term and long-term goals of investment. 

 Long-term goals are funds for college tuition, health, and medical care, emergency, buying a home, car or vacation.

It is a type of capital gain that has a purpose to increase your initial capital. On the other hand, funds for the short-term goals are intended for cash flow (money that regularly flows in and out).

Money from this investment is used to obtain regular income, pay debts, for retirement or financial freedom.         

 

How Much To Start Investing

Now that you have known the investment goals, calculate the total amount and how much to keep for each month or year. You can use Finansialku application to do that quickly. 

 

How To Start Investing

In investment, time is more important than money. The value of money is decreasing over time. You may notice that a cup of coffee today is more expensive than 2 or 3 years ago. It is because of the inflation, the rising of prices. 

The earlier you invest, the chance to gain more return is higher than when you invest later. So start investing now.

The price of an investment will go down from time to time because of inflation.  

If you are a newbie in investment, a good place to begin is through compound interest. Why you should start in compound interest? When investing for 3 years let’s say you put Rp500.000 and get interested each year for 5%. In the first year, your money is Rp525.000. In the second year, you get Rp551.250. And in the third year, you obtain Rp578.812.

 

This is the concept of compound interest: 

1st year: initial principal + interest = Rp500.000 x 5% = Rp525.000 (a)

2nd year: a x 5% + a = Rp551.250 (b)

3rd year: b x 5% + (b) = Rp578.812

 

As you can see, interest is applied to the result of your investment in the 1st year and is added again. So, it creates a multiplied effect on your investment. The longer you invest, the higher the return you’ll get especially if you start earlier. 

When you put the money for a certain amount of time such as 5 years, you shouldn’t withdraw it during the time because each year the return is multiplied.

The maximum result of compound interest depends on the amount of money, interest and period of investment. 

The earlier the better and the higher the capital and interest, the higher the return. 

 

Investment Options 

You probably are a business owner who’s looking for ways to keep business activities run well, or a staff in tech firm who pursue passive income streams or a housewife who is preparing for a family vacation in Europe.

Then,  you will need money to make those goals come true and the best way is through investment. 

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[Read: How To Make Money For Every Profession Quickly, Check This Out!]

 

The next step is to choose the tools/instrument. It is like picking up a vehicle to get you to the place you want to be.

There are many instruments today with their own risk. Investment products include real assets (real estate, precious metals, luxury asset, business) and paper assets such as cash, stock, and cryptocurrencies. 

Investing in real estates, such as buying or renting a house or apartment is a lucrative business. Amid the uncertainty of the financial market, people choose real estate not only because of the decent profit, but also it can be used against inflation. 

As mentioned above, real estate could protect you from the financial crisis and inflation. Its price is soaring up when inflation is higher.

And also it’s value going up every year. 

If you just tap into this business, you could try to invest in the real estate crowdfunding.

It is an investment that allows you to invest with a minimum budget. Since it is a crowd-funded, it means that several people put their money to buy a property.

You can start even with Rp500.000. The good thing about this investment is you don’t have to involve directly in the administrative issues, fee or maintenance of the property you own.

The company will handle that for you. But the negative side is it has low liquidity, you will need to wait for a longer time to have profit and it is small (usually 10 up to 20%) compared to the traditional one.

Putting your money on precious metals such as gold or silver is another way of investment. It existed far before the millennials generation.

Because the value of gold and silver is stable and increasing each year especially during an economic crisis or high inflation. 

The most common asset for investment is gold. You can use it for long term goals such as education funds.

You can buy physical gold from Antam or Pegadaian. They provide a place to keep your gold with a fee.  

The benefit of having gold is that if you invest in the stock, it can be a safe-haven asset against high volatility in the market. 

Cars, watches, diamonds, fine art, and other jewels are some luxury assets you can invest in. This is the asset you want to sell later when its price is soaring up.

Be sure that you know the buyer or market before deciding to invest.

Among the luxury assets, whiskey is the most popular one. Its price skyrockets up to 582% over the past 10 years.

These assets gain higher value for demands, financial market performance, and their period of popularity.

Keep your cash in a deposit account as an investment, especially in times of crisis. You can stash it in your room in a fair amount because of security reasons.  

Owning a business is relatively easier today than before. The online system has made the business accessible to people around the globe. With enough capital, you can own a business in another country. 

It can give you a relatively stable income. Businesses such as farmland could bring profitable returns besides having the land. 

If you want to passively manage business buying an online business is a good option. You could expect to obtain regular passive income each year without directly engaging in the day to day business activities. 

To start, you need to review the track record of the company and especially the cash flow over the past year.

Be sure the business gives you free rein to do your activities. When negotiating the income, make an offer to receive a profit of at least 1 to 2 years.

Cryptocurrency is a digital asset that uses a cryptography system. This system is based on blockchain that is a way to do a transaction through several networks of a computer.

It is a decentralized way of a transaction of data, that makes it almost impossible to be faked. 

The most valuable and popular cryptocurrency is bitcoin. It is considered as an alternative currency for fiat money and gold.

You can use it as a currency or asset of investment. It is a digital currency that can be exchanged with fiat money.

Investing in bitcoin is the same way as investing in gold or other currencies, except this one using blockchain.

You can sell when the price is high or buy when it’s low. Open an account of a stockbroker that offers bitcoin product to start investing. 

Bitcoin is a quite volatile currency because the price can hike very high and go down very quickly.

That’s why it has a higher risk of investment. Avoid that by researching and planning your investment. 

 

Principles In Investing

Hopefully, you could decide the proper instrument to fulfill your financial goals. Besides having specific and clear financial goals, being informed about the instrument is also important.

In his book Intelligent Investor, Benjamin Graham argued that successful investment happens when people have a sound intellectual framework on decision making, ability to keep emotions from corroding that framework. 

He also mentioned that one needs to avoid deciding on investment according to superstition, guesswork or arcane.

And know how to minimize and protect your investment from the risk of loss, high volatility, or crisis in a financial market. 

 

Conclusion

The investment could serve the need of people to fulfill their financial goals. It is not a difficult or complicated thing to start. By planning specific goals, choosing the right instrument, and being disciplined, you could grow your investment. 

Various instruments fit with your financial purposes. Learn and apply the principles of investment to get the best result. 

 

After reading this article, hopefully, your view on investment is changed and you could bravely take actionable steps to invest even if you have little money. 

If you find this article helpful, please share with those who need investment for their financial goals.

 

References:

  • Brianna McGurran and Arielle O’Shea. October 8th, 2019. How To Start Investing A Guide For Beginners. Nerdwallet.com. https://bit.ly/2QsaHgz.
  • Ryan Fuhrmann. June 25th, 2019. 7 Places To Keep Your Money. Investopedia.com. https://bit.ly/2OiD0vm.
  • Julia Kagan. September 18th, 2019. Compound Interest. Investopedia.com. https://bit.ly/2qYnxbP.
  • Niall McCharty. March 11th, 2019. The Luxury Assets Soaring In Value (Infographic). Forbes.com. https://bit.ly/2qYnKvD.
  • Jake Frankendfield. November 3rd, 2019. Cryptocurrency. Investopedia.com. https://bit.ly/2CQdMiJ.

 

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