If you’ve been putting off investing, you may be looking at a new year and thinking it’s finally time to get started. Maybe you’ve even made a New Year’s resolution in the past to put money into your portfolio.
Although the stock market can be scary, here are 5 investing tips to help you get started with the right foot in 2022:
1. Start early. The younger you begin saving, the more time you have for your investments to grow, so if you can’t start now, start as soon as possible. If you’re already in your 30s or 40s, don’t worry — some of the best investors started later in life. But if you’re starting from scratch, try getting an automatic savings plan going on a monthly basis so that you’ll have more than just one lump sum saved up later on.
2. Start small. Don’t try to make a fortune overnight — even if it seems like everyone is getting rich off of their investments these days! When it comes to investing, slow and steady wins the race — and it’s less stressful as well! You don’t want to dive into a risky investment just because everyone else is doing it. Start small with mutual funds or stocks and bonds that are low-risk.
3. Assess your risk tolerance before making any moves. A person’s risk tolerance—the amount of volatility they can stomach in their portfolio—is something that can change over time. After all, people who never invested in the stock market during the Great Recession probably had a much lower risk tolerance than they did before the crash of 2008.
4. Automate your investments. While investing doesn’t have to be difficult, it does take some thought. One of the best ways to make sure you’re getting started on the right path is to automate your investments. This way, you won’t have to worry about putting money away each month or deciding when you have time to invest. By putting your investment funds on automatic pilot, you can sit back, relax and watch your portfolio grow with confidence!
