How to Begin Investing

New to Investing? Don’t Know Where to Start? Don’t Worry! We Can Help!

Apologies in advance if we sound like your parents, but the best advice we can give on starting to invest is summed up in two words: start yesterday. In all seriousness, the sooner you start, the better. Many people are tempted to wait until “the market is right” or they have “extra” money to use.

The truth is the market is no better tomorrow than today and you may never have “extra” money.

There will always be ups and downs in the market but, historically, over the long term, the market trends up. To generalize, the longer you are in the market, the more you stand to make in the market. Hoping for an extra sum of cash to come your way almost guarantees you will never get started because you will always find another way to spend that “extra” money.

Your best course of action to get started investing is to purposefully set aside a certain amount of money from every paycheck.

Maybe it’s a percent or maybe it’s a hard dollar amount; it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you get used to intentionally setting aside a portion of your money explicitly so you can invest it. Even if it’s something as small as $20, you’ll be developing a good habit while building an investment fund that will serve you well in the future.

Enough Sage Advice, Here’s What You Should Do to Really Get Started

The money you have been saving needs to be invested to start working for you. Just letting it sit in a bank is a nice investment from the bank’s viewpoint but a terrible one from yours. Instead, you need to figure out how and where you want to invest. Luckily, the financial services industry now offers a lot of different options to choose from.

Unfortunately, there are so many different ways to invest that most new investors (and even many experienced ones) don’t know how to choose. Stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs, currencies, futures, real estate, index funds, the list of options goes on and on.

This is probably why a lot of people fall for mutual funds. They look easy to deal with on paper and require very little thought to invest in. There actually are some serious drawbacks to investing in mutual funds, though, and if you choose to go that route, you should do so with your eyes wide open.

The fastest and best way to get started investing is meeting with a financial advisor. Yes, this does put an extra step or two between your money going from a savings account and into an investment portfolio, but the payout is more than worth it.

The other option is devoting a lot of your time to studying all the different ways you can invest your money to pick one that you feel best suits your needs. Then, you’ll need to spend time monitoring your investment, tweaking as needed. Chances are, though, you don’t have a lot of time to devote to this.

Why You Need to Meet or at Least Talk with a Financial Advisor

Like we said above, there are many, maybe too many, investment options. Your financial advisor will meet with you and discuss your needs and what you are looking to do with your investments before any of the different portfolio options are considered. After all, the financial goals of a 70 year old recently widowed woman are considerably different than a 28 year old single civil engineer. In short, everybody has unique needs and risk tolerances.

One person might be very, very conservative and would rather save every penny in the safest of bonds than risk a cent on more volatile stocks. Another person in similar circumstances might prefer full-speed-ahead-as-risky-as-it-gets-no-risk-no-reward investing. The only way for a financial advisor to know what kind of portfolio fits you is to meet with you and see what kind of investor you are.

Not that we’re just yes-men. If, after meeting with you, you say you want a portfolio we know is not a good fit for your personality or financial needs, we’ll tell you so. The financial advisors at Summit are legal fiduciaries of your money, meaning we cannot advise you to do something that is not in your best interest. For more information on what this means, see our article on financial advisors vs registered investment advisors.

What Happens After You Meet with Your Financial Advisor

After you and your financial advisor have met, the advisor will begin putting together a portfolio for you. Instead of selecting from an almost limitless number of choices, you will be presented with a portfolio custom made to suit your unique needs and investing style. At this point, you’ll take the money you’ve been saving and use it to fund the investment strategy your advisor has developed.

All you’ll need to do after this point is continue adding funds to the portfolio, stay in touch with your advisor and wait. From time to time it may be necessary to make adjustments to your portfolio. After a while, it will be time to access the funds because you’re retired.

Getting started investing really isn’t as daunting as it may seem at first. If you work with a professional advisor, it can actually be an easy way to get started down the path towards a secure financial future. Not only that, it can be fun to get an expert’s opinion on how best to achieve your financial goals. Plus, everybody’s needs and outlook are different and a professional’s opinion on which investments are appropriate for you is priceless.

For Catholic Investors, There’s One Extra Consideration

Getting started investing is a big enough step for anybody. For Catholics and other people of faith, there’s additional considerations to take into account. Not only do you need to build a portfolio to meet your financial needs, you also have religious beliefs you can’t violate.

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Many investors fail to take into account the moral implications of their investments.

Certain behaviors and practices that Catholic and other Christian investors condemn are actually promoted by some publicly traded corporations. Unfortunately, many investors don’t know what the companies they invest in do with their money. This leads to the awkward situation where an investor is putting money into a company that is involved in activities the investor finds sinful.

From abortion to weapons production, the list of morally objectionable activities companies partake in is long and their involvement can often be convoluted.

With an unending list of mergers, acquisitions and “charitable” foundations, there is a tangled web of corporate ownership. Unraveling all these connections is a full time job and far beyond the ability of most investors. Instead of risking it or investing in companies known to violate your morality, you should meet with a financial advisor who shares your values. While a secular investor can try to help, you really need somebody who understands your morality and why it’s important to you.

When you work with Summit, you can count on getting advice from Christian financial advisors who will never violate your morals.

Not only do we screen all portfolios to filter out morally objectionable companies, we also promote Gospel values with our funds. Just avoiding evil isn’t enough. The USCCB affirms that Catholic investors need to actively promote the good. By investing with us, you can rest assured that your money will never be used for evil and that it will actually help promote the kingdom of God.

Stop thinking about how to start investing and take the first steps. Begin saving money right now and get in contact with a financial advisor soon. Even if you’re not totally ready to fund a portfolio, meeting with a financial advisor can help you understand how much you should start saving and when you’ll have enough to begin investing in earnest.

Schedule a free consultation with our financial advisors on how to begin investing.

Post from: Insights