{"id":53781,"date":"2022-09-20T15:11:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T07:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-my-161844363.ap-southeast-1.elb.amazonaws.com\/articles\/?p=53781"},"modified":"2024-01-31T17:40:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T09:40:28","slug":"long-term-investing-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imoney.my\/articles\/long-term-investing-tips","title":{"rendered":"Setting Up Investments For The Long-Term"},"content":{"rendered":"
Investments are a great way to develop your wealth and future-proof your finances. However, do note that investing is a marathon, not a sprint. You need patience, discipline, perseverance, planning, and a steely determination to come out on top. <\/span><\/p>\n Regardless, investment objectives and strategies should fit an investor’s circumstance. All too often, overeager investors end up losing much of their investments due to overstretching their means.<\/span><\/p>\n Long term investment strategies allow you to potentially ride out market uncertainties and average out your gains over time.<\/p>\n Unlike day trading, you do not need to constantly monitor market conditions. While you do need to take note of what\u2019s going on, you will spend less time on checking on your portfolio and more time on other things.<\/span><\/p>\n Gaining interest on your returns each year is the key to building long term wealth. It is also the primary strategy for long term investing.<\/span><\/p>\n With that being said, here are some general guidelines that can help build a long-term investment portfolio without losing all that you put in:<\/span><\/p>\n Before taking your first step towards your long-term investment journey, you should take some\u00a0 time to get things into perspective and set out your financial goals. Clear goals will make you less likely to cash out your investments early on impulse, and help you stick to your overall plan.<\/span><\/p>\n Goals can be divided into three broad ranges \u2013 short, medium, and long. While we use the term \u201cshort\u201d, short-term goals are more along the lines of six months to a year. Medium-term goals generally span three to five years in order to accomplish. With long-term goals, you will be looking at a timeline that can last for up to ten years or more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some short-term goal examples include buying a new car or paying for student loans. Medium-term goals can include things such as planning for your wedding or saving for your first home. Long-term goals can be something like saving for retirement or paying for your children\u2019s education.<\/span><\/p>\n Once you know your goals, you can draw up a rough estimate of how much money you will need to achieve them. This will help you sort out your finances and, more importantly, keep you focused and motivated to save and invest to reach your targets. Remember, evaluate your finances, set your goals, and decide how much is needed to reach said goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Read More: 5 Tips To Help You Stick To Your Investment Game Plan<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n With your timeline and risk tolerance in mind, draft an investment plan. This provides you with an outline for building and monitoring your investment portfolio.\u00a0 Things to consider in your plan include:<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Asset allocation is an investment strategy that aims to balance risk and reward by distributing a portfolio’s assets according to your goals and risk tolerance. It is essentially the process of deciding where to put money to work in the market. If big losses make you nervous, concentrate on lower-risk options like bonds.<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Choosing different types of investments to diversify your portfolio? Here are some things to consider when choosing what to invest in:<\/span><\/p>\n Deciding to be an active or passive investor. Active investing involves buying and selling investments with the goal of earning above-average returns. A passive strategy holds investments in order to build wealth gradually.<\/span><\/p>\n Read More: How To Build Your Investment Portfolio (And How I Built Mine)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n It goes without saying that \u201clong-term investment\u201d means that you will be needing a lot of discipline and patience. Therefore, it is vital to start early. Not only does an early start teach you about financial discipline, it will quickly bring about compounding results. <\/span><\/p>\n Compounding has a multiplier effect on wealth creation over time, slowly increasing the total money invested in your schemes. Being an early bird gives your money more time to grow and allows you to counter any unforeseen inflation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Read More: Here\u2019s How Compound Interest Can Grow Your Funds Over Time<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Each and every broker is different. Take some time to ask around and do some research to find a broker that fits your needs. You can either opt for a discount broker which typically offers services online where investors can open accounts and place trades for an affordable fee; or you could go with a full service broker that provides advisory and portfolio management services in exchange for higher commissions.<\/span><\/p>\n For those who are keen on a more passive investing strategy, you may want to <\/span>consider a robo advisor<\/span><\/a>, which provides automated investing services, such as portfolio allocation and rebalancing, based on your preferences. If you want to make more complicated investments, you may want to consider hiring a financial advisor.<\/span><\/p>\n Read More: Here\u2019s What You Need To Know Before You Start Trading On The Stock Market<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n While long-term investment is a slow and steady game, the investment market itself is fast and full of differing views and opinions, especially when things get a little hectic. Suddenly, you will find that everyone thinks that they are an expert and sharing opinions. For long-term investing, you must ignore noises as they end up as distractions that can impinge on your goals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It is actually advisable to hire a financial advisor who understands your financial plan, positioning, and goals if you are unsure on how to proceed with your investments. More often than not, constant market noise tends to put pressure on you, making you act on impulse and resulting in poor decisions. Always keep your eye on the bigger picture and set your sights on your goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Read More: 5 Investment Myths Busted<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n People are stronger together. The same thing goes for long-term investing. You should not depend on only a single avenue of investment if you want to succeed in the long-run.<\/span><\/p>\n Diversify your holdings across different asset classes such as equities, bonds, gold, and also within each asset class. For example, within equities, spread your investments across large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds. Having a diverse portfolio serves to spread your risk out so that not one single disaster will wipe out all your efforts.<\/span><\/p>\n Read More:\u00a03 Ways To Manage Your Investment Risk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/span>Why invest in the long-term?<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>Know your goals<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Form an investment plan<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
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<\/span>Start early<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Find the right broker<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Ignore market noise<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/span>Diversify\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n