Most people, young and old, feel intimidated by the thought of investing. This fear can seem well-founded, coming from the enormous and confusing array of investments and investing services out there. Couple that with a lack of investing knowledge and the fear of losing money, and it feels safer to retreat to the familiar territory of bank deposits, company pension funds and property.
Yes, it may be a financial jungle out there, but beginner investors can do just fine by educating themselves in investing and starting small. Today there is an abundance of great online information that is easily accessible and understandable. This information is either free (podcasts, YouTube etc.) or at a relatively low cost (books, digital books and audiobooks), meaning we can all learn to invest successfully, no matter our budgets. All it needs is some time commitment.
I started my learning journey with the Investing for Beginners Podcast and now have ten different investing podcasts that I follow. There are also many easy to read, or listen to, investment books out there, with Peter Lynch, Phil Town, Joel Greenblat and Mohnish Prabai being some of my favourite investing authors. The title of Peter Lynch's first book sums it up nicely, "One up on Wall Street", where he shows that the average investor can do just fine compared with the might of Wall Street. That's because the rules of the game for the average domestic investor are, in many ways, easier and more flexible than for the big players.
Many investors continue to seek tips on winning investments, and the myriads of investing firms are happy to dish these up daily. I doubt you will hear many consistent success stories from these investors. My strong advice is to first invest in yourself, gaining as much investing knowledge and wisdom as you can absorb. That will, hands-down, be the best investment you will ever make. There is fantastic, cheap learning material out there, and it is all for the taking. Now it's for you to dive in and learn the ropes, and, for that, you will enjoy the dividends for decades to come.
