[vc_row][vc_column][stm_spacer height=”90″ height_mobile=”-100″][vc_custom_heading source=”post_title” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:center|color:%233f3f3f” google_fonts=”font_family:Montserrat%3Aregular%2C700|font_style:700%20bold%20regular%3A700%3Anormal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_single_image image=”14391″ img_size=”large” alignment=”center”][stm_separator color=”custom” style=”style_3″ custom_color=”#0d97ff” sep_width=”200px” sep_height=”10px” sep_css=”.vc_custom_1571309810608{margin-top: 20px !important;}”][vc_raw_html]JTVCRElTUExBWV9VTFRJTUFURV9TT0NJQUxfSUNPTlMlNUQ=[/vc_raw_html][vc_column_text]Apart from clearing out debts, regularly paying off bills, and saving up money for the rainy day, it is just as important to understand how investments work and how we can make them work to our advantage. The wide-range of information available online can easily confuse an individual who’s just starting out his investment journey.
In order to get you up to speed when it comes to growing your wealth, we share with you some prerequisites to consider prior to investing, the basics of investing, and some investment channels that may fit your personality type.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]What is investing
Investing is the act of allocating a part of one’s income to a preferred investment channel with the intention of growing such funds. However, it is very important that before one ventures into investments, a strong financial foundation must be established. Set aside three months’ worth of salary as your emergency fund (for single professionals) and 6-12 months’ worth of salary (for people with dependents) and remember not to get your investment money from this fund. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Understanding risk profiles
Aside from securing your emergency fund prior to actually investing, we need to know our unique risk profile first. Risk profiles refer to the “assessment of an individual’s willingness and ability to take risks.”
Risk profiles are categorized as conservative, moderate, and aggressive. By the names themselves, we can easily grasp that a conservative type of investor is one who’s not willing to take much risk and is okay with earning minimal fund growth. Moderate investors, on the other hand, can tolerate levelled risks and earn enough investment returns. Meanwhile, aggressive investors are inclined towards gaining extremely high income returns despite the extremely high risks. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Investment channels
Once you’ve determined which among the above-mentioned risk profiles resonate with you the most, it’s time to learn the basic investment channels in which you can put a part of your income. The three most common investment channels are: bonds, stocks, and mutual funds. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
- Bonds. This type of fixed term investment is designed to help the government and corporations to increase their funds. In the simplest of terms, a private individual lends his money to either government entities (municipalities, states, and sovereign governments) or corporations in order to carry out their projects which will then be repaid by the two parties to the private individuals. This is where your investment growth comes in. Bonds best fit conservative investors.
- Stocks. Referring to fractional pieces of publicly traded companies, stocks are one of the most popular investment channels in the country. To date, there are a total of 1.4 million accounts in a famous stock brokerage company in the country where millennials are a huge part of. When a company is earning a lot, the value of your stocks increase. What’s more interesting is companies also give out dividends (a portion of earnings) to their stockholders which you can use as an additional fund to buy more units of stocks. Since stocks can go high or low in a short period of time, this best fits aggressive investors who do not mind the swift changes in their fund value.
- Mutual funds. People’s large amounts of money are pooled together to buy a large variety of securities; this is what mutual funds is all about. Usually, mutual funds are overseen by fund managers from various financial institutions. You earn through this investment by the income earned from dividends on stocks and interest on bonds. This type of investment suits people who belong to the moderate type of investors.
[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Remember that all forms of investments come with risks. It is always best to invest your disposable income instead of getting an amount from your living expenses or from your life savings. In addition, when things get difficult during your investing journey, always circle back to why you do what you’re doing. Whether it be to gain an ample amount of money in a short period of time or achieve financial freedom in the long run, always think of the reason why you started.
Uploan offers various financial education webinars that can help you. See you in our future sessions![/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]JTVCRElTUExBWV9VTFRJTUFURV9TT0NJQUxfSUNPTlMlNUQ=[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=”yes” shadow_x_offset=”0″ shadow_y_offset=”0″ shadow_blur=”0″ shadow_spread=”0″][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text][/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]