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The advantages of saving money

INTRODUCTION

If ever there was a habit which needs to be acquired from a young age it is the habit of saving money. It is a habit that will help one achieve financial goals. There are so many advantages of saving money as compared to just spending everything you make and if you are able to save something each week then you will be better off financially in the long-term.

The advantages of saving money

The ability to save for all the things you need will put you in a much better financial situation in the long-term. It will mean you pay less for whatever you are buying and places you in a less stressful situation. Mind you some borrowers just don’t care that they are in debt as long as they are able to pay it back. 

The crunch comes when there is a job loss or some health issue arises and there is no money in the kitty to pay the bills. 

A person who has set up their finances properly will factor in these types of emergencies in making their financial plan. 

Saving money is a no-brainer; here are the five main reasons for not borrowing.

1 NO DEBT

Borrowing money for the things you need or want puts you in debt. It means that you are indebted to someone else. Sooner or later it all has to be paid back along with the interest. The debt is not going away until it is paid off so there is no point in burying your head in the sand if you are indebted to your creditors. Creditors have every right to expect repayment of their money whether they are the bank or other lending institution or a family member.

2 COST OF BORROWING

There is a cost attached to borrowing money and that cost is interest which is sometimes referred to as “Dead Money.” Paying interest on the stuff you buy on credit adds to the cost of the item. The habit of purchasing goods on credit adds up to a massive amount over the course of your lifetime. That interest money could have been used to build a nest egg. Commercial debt is the worst type of credit spending because the item which has been bought on credit loses its value as time goes by. Another name for commercial debt is dumb debt. 

3 READY MONEY FOR EMERGENCIES

Emergencies crop up from time to time. The car breaks down, the washing machine needs repairing, you suffer a tooth ache and need to go to the dentist, you need a new pair of spectacles. There could be anyone for a number of reasons for financial emergency. If you have money set aside for these then you can tend to these emergencies without worrying about whether you have the money to pay for them. Every responsible person has an emergency fund on hand to cushion them against financial shocks which can occur from time to time.

4 A NEST EGG FOR THE FUTURE

Saving money means you are able to build up a nest egg for the future. If you are a responsible person you will have a retirement scheme of some kind where a portion of your pay goes into the fund. In New Zealand it is called Kiwisaver. I can not stress enough how important it is to be enrolled in Kiwisaver if you are from New Zealand. The government incentives make this scheme a no-brainer. Your country will have its own scheme with it’s own benefits.

5 TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SPECIALS

If you have no money then you will not be able to take advantage of specials. That does not mean you should spend money on something for no other reason than it is special. Your own common sense and self control should be employed here.

6 A DOLLAR SAVED IS A DOLLAR MADE

There is a saying that a dollar saved is a dollar made. The truth is a dollar saved is better than a dollar made because you do not pay tax on a dollar saved which is not the case when you make a dollar. Every dollar which you save can be working hard for you in whatever investment you place it in.

A competent money manager will not have any room in their vocabulary for such words as debt, credit, credit card, loan, lay-by, or hire purchase. In fact these are all dirty words to the person who wants to get financially ahead. 

Having said all of this, there can be times when borrowing money can be worthwhile. 

But…

And it is very big but. 

You have to be absolutely sure that the payoff is worth your while.

Take a student loan for example; You need to be absolutely sure that the type of job which the course qualifications assist you with is something that you really want to do, otherwise the whole course will be a waste of time and money.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Feel free to share this article. You may also use this article as content for your website or ebook or do anything you wish with it. Check out my other articles on www.robertastewart.com

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Looking to add another string to your financial bow? Sharesies is an online platform enabling everyone to have access to the sharemarket for a minimum investment. It is a terrific way to build up your financial literacy, not to mention your wealth. Check it out here:

https://sharesies.com/r/377DFM

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INVESTING ON A SHOESTRING

INTRODUCTION

You do not need to be rich to invest but you need to invest in order to be rich and investing in the share market has never been more accessible thanks to the internet. It gives everyone the opportunity to invest irrespective of income levels, therefore there is no excuse for not getting involved.

Investing in the stock market on a shoestring

Investing in the share market has never been as easy as it is today thanks to share market platforms where mum and dad investors can invest as little as $10 at a time. Compare that to investing through a share broker where fees make this uneconomic unless you are able to invest a few thousand dollars at a time. Problem with this is that unless one had tens of thousands of dollars to invest then diversification where money is invested in a variety of companies is out of the question.

The solution to this is mutual funds, often called managed funds where your money is pooled with those of other investors. The fund manager invests on your behalf. The advantage of this for the ordinary man and woman is that the fund manager who has experience in the financial markets is working on your behalf for a minimal fee.

Your money is invested in a variety of companies and industries in order to minimize risk. Wealth, and Invest Now

Sharesies is a popular trading platform in New Zealand but is certainly not the only one; Hatch, Kernel, and Invest Now are others. In the US, Robin Hood is a popular trading platform.

There are so many benefits of getting involved in the share market in this way with the main one being that it improves the financial literacy of participants. It is all very well just reading books of a financial nature but knowledge comes from action otherwise what you may have learned on paper is just information.

There are several strategies you can use to drip feed money into the markets using online platforms. 

I will tell you what I do. I focus on one particular company per year and invest money in this same company regularly, usually every two weeks. That way I will purchase shares at the lower price when the shares are down. If an investor just simply bought shares in one company with just one lump sum then there is the possibility that the share price was high which means it will have to rise further to maintain the value of the investment when inflation and fees are taken into account.

The share I have been buying this year is Spark, a New Zealand phone company. Last year it was Genesis Energy. I have not yet decided which company I will go to next year.

If you are prepared to invest more money you can choose more than one company. So long as you invest regularly you will take advantage of the low points in the market. 

If you so wish you can just invest in managed funds. Sharesies has a range of options for this with varying degrees of risk. The golden rule is the higher the return the higher the risk. An astute investor will take this into account when deciding what to invest in.

The basic rules of investing still need to be adhered to such as not placing all of your eggs in the one basket and investing according to your goals. If you require the money in the short-term then investing in growth stocks which are high return but with higher risk is not a suitable investment because chances are that the stock price will be down at the time when you need the money.

Micro investing is an excellent way to get involved in the sharemarket. It helps to build your financial know-how, not to mention your wealth. It can be part of your wealth building strategy so what are you waiting for?

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

You may use this article as content for your website or ebook. Feel free to share it with anyone. You can find other articles on my site www.robertastewart.com

Watch this video

This is not for everyone; we prepared a presentation for you outlining the income opportunity, please watch through it in its entirety. Here is the training link, http://bit.ly/3uQXf7I

 

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HOW TO GAIN FINANCIAL LITERACY

INTRODUCTION

There is no excuse for financial ignorance when there is so much finance information available on the internet and in printed form. Becoming familiar with the various forms of investments will hold you in good stead for the future.

How to gain financial literacy

Your financial literacy is your ability to make financially smart decisions. You were not born financially smart or dumb; your financial knowledge or ignorance was developed over a period of time. I assume that you are not ignorant otherwise you would not be reading this. So without further ado, here are some ways of gaining financial literacy.

Your own experience

There is no better teacher than your own experience but that does not mean you have to go ahead and make all of the mistakes it is possible to make. It is more a case of using your personal judgement based on your knowledge and the advice of others but you will make mistakes along the way; it is a part of the learning process. It is a matter of who to take advice from and whose advice to treat with a grain of salt. 

An excellent way of gaining financial literacy is to register with one or more of the sharemarket online platforms where you are able to buy and sell shares online. Only a minimal amount of money is needed to get involved. In New Zealand sharesies.nz is one such platform but is by no means the only one around. Other countries have similar such share trading platforms available.

Experience of others

The easy way to learn is from the mistakes of others. All you need to do is to keep your eyes open; many people do not do this and instead follow others like sheep. This is not necessarily the best way. In fact history has taught me that following the crowd is often the wrong way. A classic example is the share market when a stock is valued well above it’s true worth because so many people have jumped on the bandwagon and bought shares in that particular company because everyone else is doing it. It is young people without experience in the markets who are prone to this mistake.

It pays to go against the crowd; what this means is that you look for bargains in the markets whether it is gold, shares, property, and so forth. You do not have to experience what others are experiencing if you have the ability to assess what is a good investment and what is not.

Be prepared to listen to what the older generation has to say. Many of their opinions will be based on their own experience.

Books

Ignorance is no excuse as far as not being financially educated because your local library will stock books on finance. There are some terrific books on finance, some I recommend are, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter. They have several other books which are recommended reading. “How to Be Rich & Happy” by Hans Jakobi, Australia’s wealth coach is another book I recommend. Hans also has several other books published, “Underground Knowledge” and “Due Diligence,” are two of them. “Making money made simple” written by Australian financial advisor Noel Whittaker is a good read. Mary Holm and Martin Hawes are other excellent financial authors.

The internet

There is a lot of information available online on finance and investing; a simple google search will bring these up but like listening to your mates you have to use your own judgement when assessing the information from some sites and how it relates to your own personal situation. Martin Hawes and Mary Holm are both reputable advisors with good websites.

Newspapers

Most newspapers carry financial information and these are worth reading. Cut out articles that interest you; they make good reading in a year or so. 

www.robertastewart.com

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THE ART OF AVERAGING

INTRODUCTION

Investors must realise that investing in the markets has its ups and downs (literally) that it is important to keep it all into the right perspective if investments do not go your way. There is a method of playing the markets in a way that you can take advantage of the market drops. 

The Art of Averaging 

Averaging is a term one may come across in the markets now and and again; what this refers to is the average price paid for a particular share if you had bought shares in that particular company.

To calculate the average price paid for a particular share you add up the total amount you have paid for the shares and divide that by the number of shares you have bought in that company. 

The answer is the average amount that you have paid per share.

Try this mathematical question:

There are five numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

What is the average number?

The calculation: 

Add up the five numbers:  10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 = 150

Divide the total of the five numbers (150) by 5

150 divided by 5 = 30 (answer)

You can do this easily with a calculator.

There are so many share trading platforms available these days that investing directly into the sharemarket has never been easier for the ordinary man and women.

So how does averaging work?

If you purchase stock at regular intervals you will pay different prices for each stock because share prices go up and down. Imagine if you bought something at the supermarket last week at the full price then bought the same item this week on special. The average price you paid for the item will be somewhere between the higher price and the lower price.

The sharemarket works like that. By purchasing a particular stock at regular intervals you will manage to pick up some shares in it when the price is lower. This is the advantage of saving regularly. 

In fact I think there is a case for purchasing more shares when the price is low. The average price paid per share is determined by calculations as explained earlier. 

The averaging strategy can also be used in cryptocurrency investing. 

Bitcoin is more volatile than the sharemarket so an astute investor who has an eye for a bargain can invest when the price has dropped.

There are so many share trading platforms available that playing the markets are accessible to everyone. I have joined two of them in New Zealand. Most countries have share trading platforms available. Signing up for them is easy; you require some form of identification. Just follow the directions and you are all set up.

TO SUMMARISE

Playing the markets requires a positive mindset and a cool head. If you have these you can profit from falling markets. Averaging is a method that takes advantage of falling markets.

www.robertastewart.com

 

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GREED AND FEAR RULE THE MARKETS

Greed and fear rule the markets

“The markets are driven by greed and fear,” is something we are often told by financial commentators; what this essentially means is that fear prevents investors from buying when the share price has reached a low point while greed prevents an investor from selling when the share price is high.

The recent activity concerning the gaming company Gamestop is a perfect example of how greed will get the better of a lot of investors. Few will sell for fear of missing out on the continual rise of the stock and will end up losing a lot of their gains + their initial investment when the company’s share price runs its course which it undoubtedly will.

It is a case of investors using their commonsense. It tends to be the young who are attracted to this type of stock; I think probably because the older investors have been there and done that and have gone for a more conservative approach.

Fear also prevents a lot of investors from buying a stock when it’s price has bottomed out so an astute investor can take advantage of these fears by purchasing shares which have dropped in price. It is good for investors to check the sharemarket table in the newspapers and the start to note is the high & low price of the year. This will give you an idea of where the stock is at.

If you are investing through an online share platform which allows you to drip feed money into the markets then you could say purchase shares in the same company every two weeks. That way when the share price is down you have at least bought shares at the lower price.

But there are just some stocks where this rule may not be applicable to.

GAME STOP

The gaming company Game Stop has been in the news a lot lately (January 2021) due to the rising share price and with so many investors jumping on the bandwagon its share price has been inflated well above its true value. It is only a matter of time before its share price slides but who knows when that will be. It is likely that a lot of investors will jump ship hastening its slide. 

So is GameStop a short term, medium term, or long term investment?

In my own opinion, it is none of the above; it is more a speculative play where you use your discretionary income. If it comes off that is fine and if the investment turns to custard, well it was money you could afford to lose anyway.

By discretionary income, that is money you would have spent on alcohol, nights out, holidays, the lottery, satellite TV, or whatever; if you lose your money there is no harm done.

The media does not give the full story when they report that someone lost X amount of money on the sharemarket when a company’s share price bottomed out. An investor may have held $1,000 worth of shares in an xyz company but may have only paid $100 for them yet it will be reported that $1,000 was lost.

It is up to investors to do their homework and think and think about what they are doing because at the end of the day it is your money you are playing with.

I cannot stress this enough; do not use the following funds for purchasing shares in GameStop.

*House deposit money

*Money saved up to purchase a car

*Money set aside for your child’s education

*Money set aside for your retirement

*Money set aside for emergencies.

The Games Stop bubble will burst. It has a short life span therefore only purchase shares in this or other similar speculative investments with money you can afford to lose. 

After all, you would not go to the Kumara races with the house deposit money.

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ARE YOU HOBBIES COSTING YOU A FORTUNE?

Our passions are what makes us unique, everyone needs some form of outside interests but we have to be aware of how much it is costing us and whether the money spent on them is affecting our financial future. We need to keep a lid on the amount of money we are spending on our recreation as it could cost us in the long term.

Are your hobbies costing you an arm and a leg

By R.A.Stewart

Hobbies can give us a sense of release from our day to day issues; the satisfaction one gets from pursuing a pleasure whether it is collecting stamps, bank notes, beer labels, or any of the stuff which people describe as collectable, boating, sport, car racing, or whatever. 

If you are going to have a hobby you really need to make sure  it is not costing you more than what you can afford and that it is not at the expense of your retirement fund.

There are ways of keeping costs down with your hobby; take whatever it is you collect. You can list your duplicate items on ebay or other auction sites. It will also give you an estimate of the kind of demand there is for your particular kind of collectable. 

It is also important to realise that something is only worth whatever someone else is prepared to pay for. If you cannot find a buyer for whatever your collection is then it is not worth anything.

There are some things that are sentimental however, things which may not have any monetary value but are priceless to family such as old photographs or heirlooms.

These may not have cost you anything to acquire as they may have been handed down through the generations or have been given to you but that is not so with a lot of collectables which are acquired with a passion which can be described as hoarding. 

Unless someone has an unlimited amount of spending money all of this stuff must be at the expensive of something.

People will often go without to finance their hobby such as not owning a car, not contributing to their retirement fund, or not spending money on much needed house repairs.

A collector who owns a huge collection of beer labels, 30,000+ I believe proudly boasts about it to everyone who visits. It is anyone’s guess how much he has spent acquiring this collection but the saddest thing is that he is not contributing to his retirement fund and therefore missing out on the government incentives.

The old excuse of “I might die before retirement and so someone else will get my money,” has been used several times, but then someone else will inherit his beer label collection and if something financial crops up such as a huge medical bill he will not be able to afford it, and it is doubtful if he would be willing to part with his collection even if a lot of money was offered for it.

The same is said for any other activity that is a hobby. The old saying of “Pay yourself first” rings true because sooner or later a person who mismanages their finances will eventually find that it catches up on them.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

If you loved this article feel free to post it on your blog or website, share it, include it in your ebook, or even sell it.

Robert Stewart publishes a blog with articles about personal finance. Check it out on www.robertastewart.com

It pays to keep tabs on your discretionary spending

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TIMING THE MARKETS

This article is of the opinion of the writer and does not represent financial advice. If you require advice of a financial nature consult with your bank or other financial advisor.

Time or Timing in the markets

Written by R. A. Stewart

How important is it for investors to time the markets?

I know a retired man who cashed up his superannuation to purchase a car at a time when the markets were running hot. This was in February 2020 just as covid-19 was starting to spread throughout the world. The following month the markets started to slide. I told him, “no wonder you are smiling.”

That was good luck rather than good management, but you could consider it good timing even though it was a fluke. 

There are other cases of investors who were not so lucky.

One was an investor who changed from growth funds to conservative funds during the market slide only to find that they missed out on all of the gains when the market recovered, losing them thousands.

Another is an investor who used some of their retirement funds for a deposit on a house as they are able to do with kiwisaver, the New Zealand retirement savings scheme. That sounds fine, but they withdrew the amount they were able to during a time when the markets were falling and the losses were said to be fifteen grand. Just like the other investor who changed funds this investor also missed out on the gains when the markets recovered. 

The property market in New Zealand went crazy during 2020 due the the number of New Zealanders returning home and buying houses. A lot of people jumped on the property buying bandwagon. It is the F.O.M.O factor at play here. FOMO, for those who don’t know stands for, “Fear of missing out.”

One common theme coming out of all of this is that the property market is out of reach for first home buyers. It is still important for people to build up their asset base and find alternative ways to invest their money because having assets behind you puts you in a greater position financially for whatever is down the track. 

The key to investing is to do it the right way. You wouldn’t invest in growth funds if you were going to use the money for another purpose in the short term because the markets could take a fall just prior to you withdrawing the money. On the other hand if you have time on your side then investing in riskier funds may be an option if you have the temperament to handle the volatility.

An investor needs to decide whether this money is going to be used in the long term, medium term, or short term and set their goals accordingly. An investor’s risk profile is another factor to consider; it is easy to be an investor when the markets are going up but if the rollercoaster ride of growth shares is going to cause you to  lose sleep then you need to be a little more conservative.

The investor who switched to more conservation funds when the markets were heading south and missed out on the gains when they recovered allowed their own emotions to get the better of them. It is important for investors to get over themselves and train themselves to invest with the right mindset.

www.robertastewart.com

There are so many options for investing your savings with gold being one of them. If this is something you are interested in then check out the following:

https://affiliates.goldco.com/l/1VRW1MU2Q/

 

 

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ASSESSING RISK VERSUS REWARD

This article is of the opinion of the writer and does not constitute financial advice; if you require advice of a professional contact your financial advisor or bank manager.

Assessing Risk and Reward

Written by R. A. Stewart

Assessing the risk of loss compared to the rewards is a balancing act and requires a bit of insight and knowledge of what you are investing on. This issue has been brought to my attention a couple of times recently. It was only yesterday I received an email from a website which holds bitcoin funds; the email was promoting a special offer. Invest a minimum of $100 US into Ethereum for 4% interest. This was not an offer to purchase Ethereum itself but rather than purchase Cryptocurrency as a means of making Capital Gains you would be investing money for a guaranteed return of 4%. This is a poor return for the risk involved and of course I gave this one a miss but with the low interest rates at present there will be some people who will be tempted if offered this kind of investment.

Finance companies that offer investors higher returns to investors are lending their money to higher risk borrowers; therefore there is a greater risk of losing your money. Prior to several finance companies collapsing in New Zealand during the Global Financial Crisis of 2007/2008, many financial advisors were saying, “The higher interest rates do not reflect the higher risk investors are taking on.” 

Many rejected that advice with disastrous consequences.

Sports betting and horse racing provide perfect examples of risk and reward.

In the Australian Rugby League Melbourne Storm were playing Sydney Roosters. Melbourne has won almost two-thirds of their games since their formation in 1999, therefore if you backed them in every game you would need average odds of $1.50 (1-2) just to break even, yet they were paying $2.20 (5-4). This was over the odds.

In the same weekend, Brisbane Broncos, a team that had lost it’s last five games was favourite against the NZ Warriors. Brisbane were paying $1.60 which was a poor price for an out of form team; they lost.

It is the same with horse racing. If there are equal favourites with one that has won one race in 14 starts and another that has had two starts for one win then which would you prefer? The one that had only been beaten once is the better bet.

You have to do the mathematics and ask yourself this question, “If I backed this horse at all of it’s starts would I be in front with the odds it is paying in today’s race?”

Getting back to investing in the financial markets one has to assess the risk and weigh it up as opposed to the rewards.

One very important point to remember is this; “Whenever there is a possibility of capital gain then there is also the possibility of capital loss.”

Investors need to get used to losing occasionally and get into the habit of taking calculated risks. If you have not had any financial setbacks it means you are not taking risks.

Taking risks is not the same as making foolish financial decisions. Just be sensible with your investing and invest according to your plan and timeframe when you require the money. 

This is some guide;

Short term (with one year) Conservative funds

Medium term (one to five years) Balanced Funds

Long Term (Six to ten years & longer) Growth Funds

Adding another category would be speculative investments.

There is no guarantee what will happen to the markets this decade and in particular post-covid, therefore it pays to diversify your investment portfolio and it is for that reason that some investors are turning to gold as another string to their financial bow but like all types of investments you have to do your research. 

You can learn about investing in gold from the link below:

https://affiliates.goldco.com/l/1VRW1MU2Q/

www.robertastewart.com

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FACTORS WHICH DRIVE THE SHAREMARKET

This article is of the opinion of the writer, if you require financial advice then see your financial advisor or bank manager.

Factors which drive share prices

Written by R. A.Stewart

There can be a number of factors which motivate the markets into either direction, but the two factors which are often talked about are fear and greed. It has been said, “You should sell when people are greedy and buy when people are scared.” This is because when confidence is high the markets will go higher but when confidence is down so are the markets.

It is the law of supply and demand. Something is only worth what others are prepared to pay money for. A good example of this is a painting offered at auction. If someone is prepared to pay one million dollars for it then that is what is is worth but if a painting is sold at auction for only $20 then that is it’s value.

Looking at some industries which are likely to be affected by the economy and local trends.

  1. TOURISM/HOSPITALITY (visitors to NZ)

The collapse of the tourism industry due to the closing off of the borders of several countries will affect those companies which rely on tourism. Hotels, airlines, and airports will all be affected as will bus companies that service tourist areas. Many of these companies will not survive during these tough times so they are a risky investment.

  1. FARMING SECTOR (Fluctuating prices)

Companies in the farming sector are largely affected by the price they get for their products from abroad and this could vary depending on the economic conditions in those countries. A worldwide depression will have a major affect on prices as there is less demand for beef and other agriculture products.

  1. CHINA TRADE WAR

Policies by other countries that hamper free trade will see a reaction by the markets and we saw that with some of Presidents Trump’s comments toward China regarding trade.

  1. MOTHER NATURE

As we saw with the Christchurch earthquakes, a natural event can have a noticeable effect on share prices either way. Insurance companies were hit hard by the earthquakes which took the sting out of their share prices, but Fletcher Building were busy after the Quakes with all of the rebuilding.

  1. TRAGEDY

The Pike River tragedy had an effect on the share prices of the mining company in that people who held shares in the company lost the lot, but it serves as a reminder to only use discretionary money in risky stocks and to not place all your eggs in the one basket, but that is not to say that any of the Pike River investors made that mistake.

Even a twitter rant by the President of the United States is enough for the market to react. The market can be very sensitive but at the end of the day it is the emotion of investors behind it. A cool head is needed during times when the market is on a rollercoaster ride and investors who have the right kind of mindset can do well in the markets in the long term.

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HOW TO GET RICH OR LOSE YOUR SHIRT TRYING

The views expressed in this article are of the writer’s own opinion and do not represent financial advice. If you do require financial advice then see your bank manager or financial advisor.
How to get rich or lose your shirt trying
By R. A. Stewart
“Just how can I get rich on the stock exchange.” That is the $64,000 question, one that has no definitive answer. The question should really be, “How long will it take for me to get rich on the stock exchange?” Investors who have kept up to date with the financial stuff in the newspapers and TV will know that the sharemarket is a long term game. It is time rather than timing which is the key, however, having said that, it is unrealistic for someone aged 60 to have a 30 year plan to make money on the markets.
A younger person, on the other hand is able to take more risks, because they have more years left to recover from financial setbacks.
Share prices do not always represent true value just as at the race track where the horse’s odds do not represent their true chances of winning the race. The share price is a reflection of the opinions of investors, this opinion can be based on fears, hope, or just plain greed. The share price will move in either direction on the back of news about the company.
The mum and dad investors who buys and sells shares is competing with some very astute investors. Many of whom are the best financial brains in the country, however if you have invested in managed funds as everyone enrolled in kiwisaver has you will have the benefit of these brains who are emplyed as fund managers working on behalf of you. There are other types of investments where you are able to dripfeed money into the sharemarket. Sharesies is one of these; you have the option of investing in managed funds or individual companies. This will give you experience and knowledge of how the market works. Another string to your financial bow you might say.
Someone’s loss can be your gain; when others are selling their shares you buy. There can be some good bargains in the sharemarket when investors are pessimistic and you can take advantage of this. We have seen with the coronavirus pandemic that the markets are struggling with the worst affected companies being airlines and other companies connected to tourism. They can bounce back once this is all over.
Many companies have professional directors whose task is to boost the image of the company. They do little else except be paid for the use of their name.
It cannot be stressed enough that if the possibility of loss is going to cause you sleepless nights then stay out of the sharemarket. Life is too short for it not to be enjoyed.
You should however still be signed up for the kiwisaver retirement scheme, because if you are not you are missing out on the $520 per annum government contribution and the 3% employer contribution. To receive the $520, you must contribute at least $1040
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