The correct way to invest your money

In life, besides working hard for money, you have to also ensure money work hard for you. This is especially so in this era of low saving interest rates. Currently the inflation rate is about 4 to 5% in Singapore and the bank saving rates are below 1%. So effectively, your purchasing power is eroded. So how do you go about beating the inflation and make sure that money is not slipping away from the pocket? The key is to invest your money correctly.

When I mean the correct way to invest your money, I do not mean that we should immediately  take out all our money from the bank and start investing in various financial instruments. Rather, we should do our homework first before making any moves. Always remember the mantra “Don’t be in a hurry to lose away your money”.

I always believe that there is a systematic approach to investing and that laying a strong foundation is crucial for every investors. We should educate ourselves the way of financial wisdom, preferably at young ages, so as to give ourselves a strong head-start. Remember, the journey of investment is a long one and there are always many new things to learn, no matter how established you are. So, it’s essential that we pick up new knowledge along the way on how to invest.

Friends around me always lamented that to invest is to gamble. I bet to differ. Investing involves taking calculated risk and making tactical move. You can manage the outcome of your investments through analysis and doing homework. For gambling, most of the times, the outcome is beyond your control. For investment, you can reduce risks through diversification across different asset allocations, such as stocks, bonds, gold, ETF, REITs and property investments.

My personal view on beating inflation is to invest a portion of our savings on fixed income assets like preference shares and government bonds. But I also believe in putting aside some money as “Emergency Fund” to cater for unexpected events. I shall share my insights on fixed income investments in the next few postings.

Magically yours,

SG Wealth Builder