How Sharesies is turning ordinary people into Investors
Written by R. A. Stewart
When I was young there were limited opportunities to get involved in the share market. You had to save up a certain amount of money and invest it in your chosen company. In order to diversify you had to repeat that same saving up then investing process several times.
Then came managed funds where your money was combined with other investors which enabled you to have a diversified portfolio. Not only that but you have the opportunity to choose a fund according to the level of risk you are willing to take, whether it be growth funds, balanced funds, or conservative funds.
80% of Sharesies investors are under 40. There are benefits to getting involved in the markets from a young age. They are:
- Young people have time on their side and therefore are able to be more aggressive with their money by investing in growth funds.
- Young people have more time to recover from market meltdowns. The Share market is a long term game worth taking on board.
- Investing from a young age will increase an investor’s financial literacy and this is an experience which they can take with them into the future.
- Young people do not have as many commitments so have more discretionary money to invest into the markets.
If there is one habit which should be developed from a young age it is the habit of saving and investing. Making provision for your future needs is the responsible and mature thing to do. Indeed, it is a red flag when a potential life partner pays no attention to monetary matters. As they say, “Most marriages which fail, do because of financial issues.”
People do not change their spots overnight. If they give that appearance, it will only last until they have you and then he or she will revert to their old habits.
Now and again there will be a financial guru who claims that they made a killing on the share market and are willing to share their secret with you. What generally happens is that the person who made the killing will try to repeat the effort and end up losing their gains and a lot more. Then there is the fact that for every person who made the killing, a lot more tried the same thing and lost all of their money.
Experience will give you the wisdom to know when to take what someone has said with a grain of salt.
Never allow the fear of making a mistake prevent you from investing. It is better than you making your mistakes when you are young because they will not affect you as much as when you are older and have more commitments.
As for Sharesies, I treat it as another string to my financial bow. Here is my strategy. I choose one New Zealand company to invest in per year and drip-feed money into this company every year. Some of the companies I have on Sharesies are Spark, Genesis Energy, Fletcher, PGG Wrightson, Fonterra, and Contact Energy. I have not decided on which company to invest in 2026.
Invest according to your own personal goals and circumstances and not what others are doing. It is your responsibility to set out your finances according to your goals and not what others suggest you should do with your money.
There are some great books on personal finance available. Frances Cook and Mary Holm are two New Zealand authors whose books are worth reading so if you can obtain a copy of their books then it will steer you in the right direction.
All the best with your investing.
ABOUT THIS ARTICLE
The content of this article is of the opinion of the writer and may not be applicable to your personal circumstances, therefore discretion is advised. You may use this article as content for your website/blog or ebook.
Read my other articles on www.robertastewart.com
Start investing on a shoestring
Sharesies makes it possible for anyone to get into buying and selling shares. It is an online share market platform where you have the option of purchasing shares in individual companies or in various funds (managed/mutual funds). You can even start with $5. This is a no brainer because it gives investors young and not so young the chance to improve their financial literacy. There is certainly no substitute for experience when it comes to learning and this is applicable to everything else, not just investing.
Join sharesies here: https://sharesies.nz/r/377DFM
